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Sifelani Tsiko Agric & Innovations Editor
First it was the pandemic-induced supply bottlenecks and high input costs resulting from Covid-19 recovery that sent fertiliser prices soaring.
Secondly, disruptions stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the extensive sanctions imposed by western countries on Moscow have pushed up fertiliser prices and negatively affected agricultural input trading for Zimbabwe and most other developing countries.
The gravity of the impact of the conflict is huge and sanctions imposed on Moscow, including the agreement to exclude some Russian banks from some global payment systems such as SWIFT, has compounded problems for Zimbabwe’s sensitive agricultural sector.
The disruptions have pushed up fertiliser prices even higher than the spike experienced in the past 18 months.
The price of fertilisers went up by 55 percent according to Zimbabwe Farmers Union estimates for June 2022.
All this means that farmers have to absorb substantial costs for the 2022 – 2023 cropping season. Additionally, the cost of chemicals has gone up by 20 percent, diesel 35 percent and labour up by 45 percent in US dollar terms, ZFU secretary-general Mr Paul Zakariya said.
Russia is one of the major players in global agricultural markets and the country is a significant exporter of grains and supplier of inputs, particularly fertiliser.
The country is a leading world supplier of the key ingredients of a range of them as well as fertiliser mixtures include minerals or chemicals ranging from nitrogen to phosphorus and potassium.
For Zimbabwe, fertiliser constitutes a significant share to securing the country’s food security and also substantial share of input costs.
Another headache for Zimbabwe is the declining level of maize productivity despite a huge investment in fertilisers. According to a 2020 Food and Agriculture Organisation report, there is a marked decline in maize production while the amount of chemical fertilisers used increases.
In 2004, maize production stood at nearly 2,4 million tonnes with close to 18 000 tonnes of fertiliser used while by 2018, Zimbabwe only produced 730 000 tonnes of maize from around 92 000 tonnes of fertiliser used.
Agricultural experts are worried about this trend. “Are we getting anywhere with this relation? What should we do to reverse the trend of maize production? Ukraine is a global food basket because their soils are very rich in humus organic matter and sustainably maintained that way.
“In Zimbabwe about 70 percent of our soils are sandy, infertile lacking organic matter, acidic, have poor retention capacity and are prone to leaching. Are we going to continue with this approach? Obviously a new approach is required to save Zimbabwe,” an agricultural expert said.
One major important tool for easing the burden of rising food insecurity and input costs is for Zimbabwe to harness earthworms to improve the health, productivity and sustainability of the soil on farming land.
Experts say agriculture based only on chemical fertilisers and other chemical inputs is no longer desirable because constant use of such inputs causes soil infertility and affects productivity.
They say Zimbabwe has to move away from the harmful effect of chemical use in growing crops and move towards alternative sustainable solutions.
“As a country researchers and the FAO have told us about the declining maize productivity despite heavy use of chemical fertilisers over the years,” said Dr Ephrem Whingwiri, head and founder of Zim Earthworm Farms.
“As a country we need to implement re-generative agriculture practices, such as developing a large-scale vermiculture system to improve soil health and crop yields. We have to cut the use of inorganic fertilisers.”
Vermiculture means artificial rearing or cultivation of worms (earthworms) and the technology is the scientific process of using them for the betterment of human beings. Vermicompost is the excreta of earthworm, which is rich in humus.
Dr Whingwiri said there is a need to spread awareness about the importance of using vermicomposting for cultivation.
“I think that earthworms can change the fortunes of Zimbabwe forever. Zimbabwe generates about one million tonnes of biodegradable waste per annum which currently is a nuisance to local authorities who lack sufficient capacity to manage it. Most of the waste is disposed of at landfills, illegal dumpsites or is burnt yet 70 percent of Zimbabwean soils are sandy, prone to leaching, have low humus and are inherently infertile,” he said.
The earthworm fertiliser production experts said by simply utilising earthworm-based home-grown technologies developed on-farm − earthworms are a possible backbone of a green revolution.
“They decompose organic waste into a bio-fertiliser called vermicompost (earthworm faeces or excreta) which can be used to cut our inorganic fertiliser input costs and save foreign currency,” Dr Whingwiri said.
“We need a paradigm shift from 100 percent chemical fertiliser to a situation where 50 percent of the recommended chemical fertiliser is replaced with nutrient rich vermicompost for most crops including tobacco.”
His company has done research with the Tobacco Research Board and it was found that there is no compromise in yield and quality when vermicompost is used.
For tobacco, he said, one bag Compound C fertiliser can be replaced by one bag of vermicompost while for other crops one bag of chemical fertiliser can be replaced by two bags of vermicompost.
“We need to embrace vermicomposting to improve Zimbabwe’s soil fertility and cut heavy reliance on imports and unsustainable chemical use,” Dr Whingwiri said.
“Let us change that. Let us put more of our more than 1 million tonnes of our biodegradable waste back to agriculture. Through vermicompost we can begin the remediation process of improving the humus in our soils.”
Vermicomposting, is the processing of organic wastes through earthworms. Experts say this is a natural, odourless, aerobic process, much different from traditional composting.
Earthworms ingest waste then excrete casts – dark, odourless, nutrient- and organically rich, soil mud granules that improve soil quality.
Earthworm casts are a ready-to-use fertiliser that can be used at a higher rate of application than compost, since nutrients are released at rates that growing plants prefer.
Vermicasting can be done on a small scale by farmers with household organic wastes, on a large-scale by farmers with manure or by the food industry using organic wastes such as fruit and vegetable cull materials.
Experts say vermicompost can significantly reduce the amount of fertiliser Zimbabwe buys during planting season by half!
For this reason, experts say with the Russia – Ukraine conflict induced input supply bottlenecks, soaring costs and rising input cost in Zimbabwe, farmers have to be encouraged and supported to produce enough compost to use on their farm lands during the coming planting season.
Agricultural experts say vermicomposting would be beneficial to Zimbabwe’s climate smart agriculture programme, dubbed Pfumvudza/Intwasa – an integrated approach for sustainably managing farming practices.
It is based on three core underlying principles namely of minimum soil disturbance or tillage, digging holes for planting only, permanent soil cover by using organic mulch, crop rotations and intercropping cover crops with main crops.
Sustainable nutrient management strategies such as vermicompost application can improve plant health while reducing the cost of production. Organic matter levels of agricultural soils are gradually decreasing and the industry is relying heavily on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides with negative impacts on the environment and public health.
Zimbabwean farmers can still judiciously use chemical fertilisers and blend appropriately with vermicomposting to improve soil fertility, crop yields and ameliorate the environmental effects.
“Not only is vermicomposting important in cutting costs of fertiliser, but also enhancing our biodiversity since these worms need specific conditions for the silvo-culture to take place,” said Dr Maria Goss, an agro ecology and farming systems specialist.
“Secondly, this approach will also enhance resilience at ward level because the technology is adaptable at all levels depending on resources a farmer has and can be made using locally available, low cost materials. Thus vulnerable communities can start restoration of the “dead agricultural soils” leading to increased food/nutrition security.”
She said Zimbabwe needs to invest more on sustainable fertiliser production practices to cut cost, improve soil quality and to enhance food security.
“As a nation we need to invest in this technology, make it accessible and affordable and adaptable to context specific needs and aligned to the prevailing environment and conditions.”
Nyabira farmer, Ms Louise Machirori said she once used this technology and it proved to be effective.
“This technology is effective. Now that many people are health conscious, it is important to use manure rather than chemicals. The food produced has a better taste and can also fetch a higher price on the market,” she said.
Capacity building and training plus skills transfer of this technology and not make it “exclusive to the monied boys.”
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