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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
THE most valuable lesson which farmers from Baitsepile Farmer Field School in Gwanda have learnt is that farming is an all-year-round job which requires meticulous preparation even when practising rain-fed agriculture.
Among activities for this year’s farming season, the farmers are making organic compost which has to be prepared over a period of three months. Before they plant their crops, they will apply the compost to ensure that their crops perform well.
The farmer field school has 15 members drawn from Bethel Village in Ward 14. The farmers have a garden which they use as a training ground. Each year the farmers try out different seed varieties to find the ones suitable for their area. They also implement new farming techniques which can help improve yields. After an experiment is successful, the farmers go on to replicate it in their own fields.
Farmers said they have learnt a lot from their field school which was established in 2013. A farmer field school is a group-based learning process where farmers carry out experimental learning activities that help them understand the ecology of their farming practice. These activities involve simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis.
Baitsepile Farmer Field School lead farmer, Ms Virginia Moyo said her role is to attend training workshops and share the knowledge with her fellow farmers. She said the trainings are usually held once every month.
“As a farmer the biggest lesson I have learnt is that a farmer doesn’t have time to say he or she isn’t working. We practise rain fed agriculture but it doesn’t mean that if it’s not the farming season we just have to sit and relax. This is the time for us to plan and prepare,” she said.
“The gap is a time to rehabilitate contours, prepare holes, fence the fields, prepare the seed among other activities. As we speak we are in the process of preparing organic compost. We started preparing it in June and it will be ready end of next month as it takes three months to prepare.”
She said for the compost they mixed dry grass, crop residue, goat or cattle manure and ashes.
Ms Moyo said they were going to try out the compost for the first time as they had learnt that it was good for crops. She said the compost traps water. Ms Moyo said organic compost was the best option as it was not harsh to crops.
The secretary of the farmer field school, Mr Mekia Ncube said when they are planting, they separate the crops according to varieties. He said each crop variety was placed in its own plot. Mr Ncube said crops also had to be properly spaced so that they grow well.
“We have been farming for several years but each year we learn something new, thanks to our farmer field school. We know that crops have to be separated according to their varieties in order to avoid spread of diseases. Each year we learn new crops varieties and this helps us to identify a variety which is best suited for our soil and rainfall patterns,” he said.
“Learning about farming is very important especially now that we are experiencing climate change. As farmers we need to adapt and find farming methods that will enable us to harvest because after all we have to feed our families whether the rains are good or not.”
Another farmer Mr Andrea Ndube said they had received training on how to maximise on production even during a poor rainy season. He said they were also running a goat project. Mr Ndube said they sell the goats to raise income which they share among members. He said they have 11 goats.
Matabeleland South acting provincial agricultural director for rural development services, Mr Mkhunjulelwa Ndlovu said the purpose of farmer field schools is to ensure that farmers have a practical platform where they can learn, experiment, identify problems and come up with a solution to maximise their production.
He said the field or work station of the farmers becomes the school. In field schools farmers identify a problem which is threatening their production such as a disease in livestock, pests affecting crops, high cost of stock feed or market challenges and then come up with solutions with the assistance of experts.
Mr Ndlovu said farmer field schools also help farmers to come up with innovative ways of developing the farming enterprises.
“Farmers with a similar enterprise such as livestock pen fattening or tomato production come together and form a group with about 10 to 30 members. They will be sharing their knowledge, experience and skills in that particular enterprise which can help them maximise production. The farmers have one station which will be their learning point and then they go on to implement solutions at their respective stations. For example farmers can have a common kraal as their work station and then they go on to implement the strategies they would have come up with at their individual kraals,” he said.
Mr Ndlovu said the concept was a good way of motivating farmers to learn from their counterparts.
Farmers in Matabeleland South Province have formed more than 150 field schools which have helped equip them with skills to increase production. — @DubeMatutu
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