Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo
A senior Government official has called for the bridging of the gap between small-scale farmers and research stations’ millet yields which has a variance of 10 percent with research stations realizing more yields per hectare compared to farmers.
Farmers are yielding between 0.5 and 0.7 tonnes of millet per hectare while at research stations like the International Crop Research Institute of Sem-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Matopo research station, they are realizing yields of between five and seven tonnes per hectare.
Speaking at the 2023 International Year of Millet field day at Matopo research station on 24 April, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr John Basera, said the productivity levels were a worrying factor as it showed that the growth wasn’t as expected.
“Our traditional grains productivity levels are around 0.5 tonnes per hectare and like I always say, the research yields are telling a different story, the researchers are talking about 5 tonnes or more per hectare. What it means more fundamentally is that we are only tapping about 10 percent of the genetic gains, of the massive and concerted investment in terms of research, so we need to close that gap,” said Dr Basera.
He said success in closing the yield gap will not be an easy achievement but there was a need to begin the process.
He urged researchers to introduce seeds which are accessible and affordable to and by small scale farmers. The permanent secretary further challenged the research community to develop seeds that are animal and bird resistant.
“There is also a need for mechanisation of traditional grains production, that is in terms of planting and sowing, seed drilling as well as other operations such as harvesting and value addition. I want us to work closely with the mechanisation department so that we mechanise production of traditional grains,” said Dr Basera.
ICRISAT country representative, Dr Martin Moyo, in an interview on the sidelines of the field day, said bridging of the yield gap was critical and as the research community, they were working on a number of barriers to bridge the gap, such as coming up with drought resistant seeds, mechanisation of the production line including dealing with the bird menace.
“As ICRISAT, we have been working on coming up with hybrid seeds that will be able to produce high yields because as has always been said, one of the key factors for good yields is good seeds. Without a good seed, you have already lost half the battle in agriculture production,” said Dr Moyo.
He encouraged farmers to practice good agriculture systems such as correct manure or fertiliser application as well as familiarising themselves with soil moisture conservation to increase production.
“We also have a challenge of birds, traditional grains are prone to serious damage by birds so we are coming up with innovative bird scaring methods so that we reduce or stop completely yields being reduced as a result of bird damage,” said Dr Moyo.
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