Farmers have been urged to intensify land preparations ahead of the 2019/2020 summer cropping season.

The call was made by Seed Co agronomy and extensions services manager Dr John Basera during the first day of the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show yesterday.

Dr Basera urged farmers to take note of the rainfall outlook, which will guide them in making decisions on the crop varieties to plant.

“We recommend farmers to prepare their land now as there is still moisture, and for small-scale farmers, oxen are still in good condition for draught power.

“We also recommend farmers to use primary tillage. For commercial farmers, go beyond 35 centimetres depth.

“Fine tilth is essential in attaining better crops in terms of germination and final stages.

“Small-scale farmers should start now whilst the soils are still lighter. Three months ago we received our last rains and the soils are still lighter and soft rather than starting in September whereby the grounds will be now hard,” he said.

Most small-scale farmers last year lost their cattle to tick-borne diseases and have revealed that they do not have tillage facilities.

Dr Basera said these farmers could turn to conservation agriculture, which was also another way of mitigating climate change.

“We are also encouraging full adoption of conservation agriculture and the principal is zero soil disturbance,” he said.

Dr Basera said the other principle was religious adaptations of crop rotations and inter cropping.

“We also recommend farmers to take their soils for testing. It is not too late for soil testing so they are guided on the amount of fertilisers to apply.

“Testing for the soil acidity or alkalinity (pH) is important. When the pH is low, fertiliser uptake or nutrient uptake is compromised and even if a farmer applies a truck load of fertiliser per hectare, the crop will not benefit,” he said.