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Edgar Vhera
Agriculture Specialist Writer
FOLLOWING the rains being experienced in parts of the country, farmers’ unions have urged farmers to take advantage of the subsequent moist soils to do early land preparation for the 2024/25 cropping season.Tobacco Farmers Union Trust (TFUT) president Mr Victor Mariranyika said farmers in areas that have received rains should start ploughing in order to retain moisture.
“We encourage farmers in areas that have received rains to do winter ploughing in preparation for the next summer season. Fields ploughed this time have the advantage of retaining moisture and enhanced decomposition of plant residues for increased soil fertility,” the TFUT president said.
Tobacco Farmer Talk (TFT) administrator Mr Phineas Mukomberenwa concurred saying land preparation was done when the soils are moist usually in March, April and May.
“We recommend deep ploughing to allow effective incorporation of crop residue and facilitate ideal ridging heights. Soil testing follows immediately after ploughing to correct the pH for improved fertiliser uptake and for improved yields,” he said.
Early land preparation is beneficial, as it reduces the number of operations to achieve ideal ridging tilth, which is facilitated by working soft ground. It also lowers cost of fuel, wear and tear of machinery and equipment as well as weed incidences by ploughing into the soil immature weed seeds. Apart from conserving moisture, it increases humus/nutritional status of the soil when the plant residues decompose.
Kutsaga Research concurred saying deep ploughing should be done early particularly after the rains to lower ploughing costs, achieve greater uniformity, conserve soil moisture, control weeds and incorporate plant residues into the soil, thus improving its structure and nutrient status.
Soil testing is important for every farmer because it helps in proper land preparation, identifies crop specific lines, influences fertiliser as well as agro-chemical application rates.
Kutsaga chief executive officer Dr Frank Magama recently said his organisation was producing varieties capable of yielding between 4 500 and 5 000kg per hectare, though the national average was hovering around 1 700kg per hectare.
Meanwhile, AFC Holdings is offering a 10 percent tillage discount for all farmers producing crops under irrigation.
In a recent X (formerly twitter) post, the Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Ministry said about 99, 9 percent of land earmarked for distribution under the Land Reform Programme had been distributed.
“This irreversible programme has yielded over 23 500 A2 and 360 000 A1 beneficiaries. The focus is now on increasing production and productivity,” added the post.
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