At 900kg per hectare, the average maize yield in the local smallholder sector is too little.  

In an effort to boost their yields, some smallholders resort to extensification of their operations, meaning that they expand their areas under cultivation.  Indeed, in good years they reap more from their expansive pieces of land.  The downside is that this approach demands much more by way of inputs yet farmers could realize better harvests on smaller pieces of land if they adopted intensive farming practices.  

The Government realizes the challenges arising from extensive production and wants to address them under the recently launched Agriculture Recovery Plan.  The plan touches on a number of issues and one of its more important elements is that from the 2020/2021 farming season onwards, all farmers who want to benefit under the Presidential Inputs Scheme will have to adopt conservation agriculture, a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance, maintenance of a permanent soil cover and diversification of plant species.  This means that farmers will not need to till their land completely, will have to mulch their fields and practise crop rotation.  

Code-named Pfumvudza/Intwasa, the strategy seeks to boost farm productivity and ensure food self-sufficiency and surplus.  

Conservation farming techniques involve the utilisation of small pieces of land and applying the correct agronomic practices for higher returns. The concept, which will be applied to maize, traditional grains, and soyabeans will also commercialise smallholder agriculture. Under the programme 1, 6 million households are expected to contribute 1, 6 million tonnes of maize towards strengthening the Strategic Grain Reserve while 800 000 households are expected to produce between 90 000 and 100 000 tonnes of soya.

Elsewhere on these pages today, Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri says by August this year the 1,6 million households will be required to have two plots, each measuring 39 x16 metres, on which to practise intensive maize farming.  This entails the farmer digging individual holes, 145cm deep and 15cm on all four sides in which he or she would apply the required fertilisers, plant their crops and mulch.  

The advantages of the planting basins are many.  They serve as moisture banks to help crops do well even during prolonged dry spells.  Instead of spreading fertilizer all over their fields, including on patches that would not be planted, a farmer puts specific amounts into individual holes.  

Research has shown that from each plot, measuring about 600 square metres, a farmer can reap up to one tonne of maize instead of harvesting 900kg on a hectare or 10 000 square metres as is the situation now.  

Our people have suffered in recent years due to food shortage caused by drought. The economy has suffered too, as much money is being spent importing food to feed the hungry, estimated at five million this year.  Therefore, any initiative to try and get our country recovering its food self-sufficiency is welcome.  

We urge the ministry to go all out educating communal farmers on the new thrust and what they must do on their fields to stand a chance of benefiting from the Presidential Inputs Scheme.  The education and awareness drive must begin as early as now given that the initiative targets the communal farmer, many who live in hard-to-reach areas. Extension services after planting are of paramount importance for the new thrust to succeed.

The Presidential Inputs Scheme is arguably the most effective farmer support structure in the country as inputs are distributed on time and in the required amounts.  That is good but authorities are urged to intensify the effectiveness for time is almost everything in successful agriculture.  

We are cognisant that conservation agriculture is, in fact, not entirely new in the country. It was once promoted very strongly around 2003 with non-governmental organisations and development partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation at the forefront, providing seed, fertilizer, technical knowhow and other inputs. As a result, a large number of farmers signed up.  Their harvests shot up.

However, that initial success has not held.

Conservation agriculture has been criticised for being too labour intensive. Farmers have to dig holes, one at a time to specific dimensions. They must plant and apply fertilizer into those specific basins.  Furthermore, weed control is known to be a challenge since there is no tilling.    

“This, of course, is more labour intensive than planting in ploughed furrows,” says FAO. 

“Moreover, weeds grow faster in the undisturbed soil, requiring more effort to keep the fields clean. Maintaining a permanent soil cover also requires more labour. Farmers must gather the stalks and leaves left in the field after harvest to use as mulch, which protects the soil from erosion and holds in moisture. Crop rotation calls for farmers to alternate legumes with their maize crops in order to improve soil fertility, but they are often averse to giving up field space where they normally grow their major crops.”

Encouragingly, FAO notes that once farmers pass the initial labour-intensive, start-up seasons, their conservation agriculture techniques cut down on waste of inputs and thus reduce their costs.  Going forward, conservation agriculture could be the model to sustainably improve communal farmers’ productivity, and with it, national food security.