Greetings, again dear readers wherever or whoever you may be.
We are still awaiting the "planting rains", three days after a singularly important day on two levels for me as an agriculturalist in Zambia, and as a Yooper. November 15th to the 25th is highly critical for Zambian farmers as it represents the optimal planting window for maize. Why? I'll summarize a few hours worth of training into a few bullets:
- Nitrogen flush: Once rains kick off, the air and soil temperatures drop off precipitously (a brief aside ... last week I was in mid-40s C temps in Liuwa Plains NP, Kalabo, Mongu, Senanga, Sesheke, Livingstone, and Chirundu ... maybe I'll write briefly about ringing the west and south, maybe not. Anyway, the precipitous drop means soil temps go down to low 30s/high 20s ... still plenty of heating units even in mulched soils). Once these temps drop (and some moisture comes into play), saprotrophs and heterotrophs start breaking down organic material in the soil, which is then mineralized into plant available forms (plants don't chew raw nutrients ... they suck it up as a solution, another reason moisture is key). Anyway, flush is the real word ... it's there and gone in a hurry as our soil temps are generally high, and in farmed fields, the tradition of burning crop residues prior to planting reduces available organic matter. The microbes essentially eat and reproduce themselves out of house and home in a hurry, even faster if they till the soil (which increases oxidation and mineralization rates by aerobic bacteria. Anyway, long and short is that if you can catch that flush, especially in maize, you get a huge boost in the critical first four weeks of the plant growth, effectively developing a much more effective photosynthetic engine.
- Daylength: Maize is a sun-loving plant; not a surprise, given the demands it puts on the photosynthetic outputs (big stalk, heavy cobs, etc). We don't see this much in temperate climes as we have comparatively long summer days (heat and degree days are more the problem). However, in Zambia, days range from 13 hours in the summer (with longer in the south) to 11 hours in the winter. Catching as much sun as possible means more photosynthetic output, and consequently, a bigger plant. Some estimates show that yield loses from planting after November 25th equal 2% of potential yield per day (!). Also, and I'm wandering out onto thin ice, but maize often flowers (depending on the genotypes) based off the daylength, which can mean some plants may flower prior to being "ready" (growth-wise) to flower. It, like all aspects of maize, are somewhat strange and fascinating ... a great thesis from a Zambian student at Iowa State in the late 1980s explains somewhat why tropical maize grown in the temperate zones gets really big (leafy) but produces little (something I've observed as well).
- Rain: This damnable ENSO (el Nino) event is going to make life miserable for farmers despite rainbows, prayers, days of fasting, etc. (Appealing to the Almighty is understandable and I often do so myself, but the extent that it actively destroys agency and responsibility gets a bit wearisome). Anyway, we are going to have short (late start, early finish) rains, and likely low annual accumulations between October and April, the months in which nearly all the rain falls and which we typically measure. The earlier you plant, and combined with the above, the more of that rain you catch, the better the yield.
Long and short, plant early ... and not just maize!
Notes from ZNFU Friday Brief (Week 46) (My notes in red text):
The Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Given
Lubinda, MP has assured maize farmers in Zambia that maize markets will still
be available for the 2015/2016 crop despite the increasing input costs that
farmers are currently experiencing. The Minister said this when ZNFU President,
Dr Nguleka and her team presented an Issues paper on the increasing costs of
maize production for the 2015/2016 crop at the Ministry of Agriculture on
Friday 13th November 2015. The Minister assured maize farmers that
government will allow market forces (demand and supply) to operate in order to
ensure farmers get a better price for their crop. Hon. Lubinda observed that
farming is a business and government will continue to provide a conducive
environment aimed at encouraging further investment in the sector.
I was at the recent IAPRI conference for Western and Southern Provinces (same day) and he (Hon. Lubinda) was in attendance. Welcome relief (I'm on Minister of Agriculture #4 or 5 since 2010) as he seems fairly straightforward, though no one could ever match Bob Sichinga's sensayuma. Anyway, if they want farming to be a business, GRZ needs to pull out of both FISP and FRA. Lubinda gets that, but maize subsidies are like holding the proverbial political wolf by the ears: you don't like it, but you sure as hell don't want to let go.
SUNFLOWER PRODUCTION:
THE BLOOMING INDUSTRY
The oilseed stakeholders met on 11th
November at the ZNFU offices to review the market situation of soya beans and
other oilseeds. Whilst expressing appreciation the importance of maintaining
export relations, the stakeholders agreed that there was need for stakeholder
consultations before any exports of soya beans could be allowed so as to
support the growth of the soya beans value chain. During the deliberations, the
farmers indicated that there was need for traders and processors to enter into
pre-planting contracts with the farmers, as uncertainty over the markets
affects the farmer’s decision on what quantities of the crop to grow. The
farmers were assured that demand of soya beans would be high in 2016 and that
some off-takers were ready to sign supply contracts with the farmers.
The stakeholders were informed that there was
readily available sunflower market with the demand in 2015 projected at least
50,000MT by oilseed crusher with a potential to expand further should supply
increase. Farmers were encouraged to grow high oleic sunflower varieties to
attract premium prices. Stakeholders
however bemoaned the inadequate supply of high yielding sunflower seed
varieties on the local market and proposed that seed companies should be engaged
for sustainable growth of the sunflower industry.
I take some pride in being part of the introduction of sunflowers into Western Province in 2010 and 2011. However, despite it growing fine (if planted early) in Zambia with minimal inputs and efforts, it is still planted on a relatively low scale. The whole out-grower scheme would be ideal but for the fact that our farming season straddles the fiscal year turnover. The farmers have it right on this; knowing the price in advance would likely guarantee production, as marketing points for sunflower are not nearly as ubiquitous as maize.
2015 WHEAT PRODUCTION
ESTIMATED AT OVER 300,000 TONS
The ZNFU wheat and barley commodity committee
met on Thursday 12th November 2015 to review the 2015 wheat
production estimates. Based on information captured through satellite imagery,
the total area under wheat in 2015 was 46,156 hectares out of which, 42,564Ha
was observed to be normal, 1,916Ha had somewhat stressed/below average wheat
while 1,675ha had stressed wheat. The total production has been estimated at
309,100 of wheat while the 2015 barley crop harvest has been pegged at
8,800tons. The farmers expressed concern on the high levels of uncommitted
wheat crop still available in the farmers’ hands with little propensity by the
millers to purchase the crop. The meeting was further informed that the
estimated national wheat consumption requirement is 387,193MT. It was however
highlighted that due to load shedding, indication from the millers was that
while there have been some attempts to invest in alternative sources of power,
their normal production levels had dropped by about 30%. It was further stated
that demand for flour and flour products was being affected by the rising cost
of living.
Just a note ... nearly all wheat is grown by a relative handful of very large scale farmers (inclusive of quite a number of white ex-Zimbabweans) under pivot irrigation. It's sown just after the rains and irrigated throughout the early part of the dry season, then matures and dries under the later, hotter part of the dry season; usually they combine it in early October. It still is the strangest thing to go from a farmer working with a hoe on a quarter hectare to a person operating a 50 foot combine through 250ha of wheat in the same day.
WATER SHORTAGE HITS
COPPERBELT
Copperbelt like many other districts in the
country has experienced low water levels ever recorded with most perennial
streams and wells drying up. Farmers in the countryside have expressed worry
over the water crisis as most of their livestock depend on streams and wells
for their water. Farmers have to walk long distances to fetch for water.
Others have resorted to drive to nearby towns to draw water in drums for
their livestock, and for domestic use. A Mr. Mwale of Mufulira Murundu farming
area explained that for the first time, he has witnessed a perennial stream
drying up. "This is very sad, my animals are dying, vegetables completely
wilting" Mr Mwale lamented.
Meanwhile, a group of farmers in Ndola have
mobilised themselves and have requested the regional office to assist in
finding a borehole driller and negotiate the prices so that they can have
boreholes in their farms as a measure to mitigate the water crisis. And a named
borehole driller has since been approached and negotiations are currently
underway.
Good thing climate change is just a myth ... right? More like what my friend Rolf Shenton says; Zambia's capacity to absorb rain is being destroyed as forests fall to charcoal and farms.
KATETE
DC DISSOLVES ERRING CAC COMMITTEE
The District
Commissioner for Katete district has dissolved the Camp Agriculture Committee
(CAC) for Chilembwe Agricultural Camp after discovering that the CAC committee
and the Camp Extension Officer could not account for k 20,000.00 contribution
made by Cooperatives and other farmers groups for CAC activities. The CAC
committee could not also account for 138 packs of fertilizer under the Farmer
Input Support Program (FISP) which were allocated to the agricultural camp. During
the meeting held on 6th November 2015 the area Councilor for Chimwi Ward
appealed to the DC through the DACO to consider replacing the Camp Extension Officer.
Typical FISP ... usually it doesn't get reported.
E-VOUCHER
CARDS DISTRIBUTION ON COURSE
The distribution
of FISP e-voucher in Mumbwa district has so far gone well with over 75% of the
cards already issued to beneficiary farmers. More than 12,000 cards have been
issued to the beneficiaries against the intended 16,239 beneficiaries as the
exercise continues.
As usual, behind schedule ...
At the same meeting last week, I was somewhat surprised by the tacit, subtle resistance to the e-vouchers, which have been in play by FAO, CFU, hell, even Concern since 2007ish. It's a relatively simple thing ... you get a credit card sized voucher with a fixed value, take it to a participating agrodealer, and redeem inputs against the value of that card ... agrodealers get paid fairly quickly, and there's zero transport costs to the government (the farmers collect the voucher). However, standard FISP distribution is a powerful expression of gift-giving (go read My African Friends and Money Matters) that accrues repute to the giver. Power. That's the tall beer. I have it figured they want it to fail because it deprives them of that power.
However, the
exercise has faced a minor challenge in one agriculture camp of the district
where a few farmers could not collect their cards due to some unexplained
religious conviction. The farmers who could not pick up the cards belong to Mpusu
Agriculture Camp north of Mumbwa district.
Huh...
FARMERS’ REPRESENTATIVE CALLS FOR INTRODUCTION OF THE
FISP E-CARD IN ALL DISTRICTS
Kabompo District Farmers' Association (DFA) chairman, George Munyingu, has
called on government to extend the use of the FISP e-voucher card to other
districts in the country. Speaking during the Kabompo DFA executive committee meeting
on Wednesday this week, Mr. Munyingu said the use of the e-card will bring
sanity in the implementation of the FISP exercise. He further added that the
use of the e-card will eliminate a lot of discrepancies currently being
experienced under the FISP program. He cited some farmer organizations which do
not have proven membership but are receiving huge amounts of input packs
thereby disadvantaging real farmer organisations.
Read that vs. the bit above. Farmers like it because they are more in control of when they get their inputs.
FISP BENEFICIARY FARMERS STILL WAITING FOR SEED INPUTS
All the districts in North Western B region have not received the allocated
seed. A check at the storage sheds in various districts found warehouse
managers still waiting to receive the seed. The affected districts are Chavuma,
Kabompo, Manyinga and Zambezi.
Another reason to switch to e-cards ... waiting on other people sucks.
Remember the poor.
