‘Stagger planting dates to protect crops from vagaries of weather’

Mangaliso Lawrence Kabulika

WITH seasonal rainfall patterns becoming more and more difficult to predict, experts in agriculture have challenged farmers to guard against outright crop failures by staggering their planting dates while using varieties suitable for their various agro-ecological regions.

In an interview at the ongoing Zimbabwe Agricultural Show (ZAS) yesterday, Seed Co Limited head of agronomy services, Mrs Wendy Madzura urged farmers not to plant all their crops at the same time but do periodic plantings to spread the risk total losses and salvage something, for instance, in the event that the predicted El Nino induced drought for the forthcoming season chances to occur.

“Climate change is real. It is something we have been facing over the years and it has caused a shift in the crop choices that farmers make. As seed producers we are doing our best to avail climate smart seeds that speak to the environment under which farmers will be establishing their crops,” she said.

Mrs Madzura also highlighted the different adaptabilities associated with different seed varieties.

“Mid-season dry spells or premature termination of the season are some of the unpredictable weather vagaries that are associated with climate change. Seed varieties have different adaptability qualities, for example, if its maize there are varieties that have a ‘stay green’ character that allows for continuous photosynthesis.

“It is difficult to get totally drought resistant varieties but drought tolerant ones that can last for about 22 to 27 days without water depending on soil type and heat units in that area,” said Mrs Madzura.

She also revealed that Seed Co had partnered with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to develop seeds that perform well with optimum management.

“The Ministry is keen to make sure productivity and profitability are enhanced at all costs in a way that aligns production to National Development Strategy 1 and 2 (NDS 1 and 2). Through our partnership with them we have an agronomist who works hand in hand with their agricultural extension officers in different provinces to enhance information dissemination.

“We also conduct field schools, field days and demonstration plots together with private players in line with Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG 17) of smart partnerships to increase food and nutrition security for the nation,” she said.

Moreover, she also said they were also supporting the Government’s Pfumvudza/Intwasa initiative.

“At small-scale farming, we are pushing our farmers to intensify productivity in a systematic way for them to get high yields rather than establishing vast lands and not getting high productivity per unit area.

“We urge commercial farmers to practise conservation agriculture using specialised equipment to just plough where they want to establish their crop,” said Mrs Madzura.

Seed Co is also closely working with the Ministry through availing seeds that match various agro-ecological regions, for example, we give farmers in region 3 early maturity varieties so that they harvest on time even under rain fed agriculture. Region 1 and 2 require medium and late maturing varieties depending on time of production, she further explained.

In the same fashion, they also ensure that they promote good agronomic practices across the country.

“We have anchor farmers in eight provinces who act as ambassadors of good agronomic practices (GAP). These invite neighbouring farmers for an appreciation of GAP and receive instruction on how they can implement them sustainably. In provinces that have extensive farming activities we deploy three agronomists. In recent times, Harare and Bulawayo provinces have also started seriously peri-urban farming so we deployed agronomists there,” observed Mrs Madzura.

She added that they were also encouraging farmers to do value addition. They are also increasing research initiatives for traditional grain crops such as sorghum while encouraging farmers to diversify crop options and reduce risks of weather induced losses.