2.4 R ESULTS AND D ISCUSSION
2.4.4 Crop management practices
Appropriate timing of planting is a critical success factor in the semi-arid environments because farmers need to capture the scarce soil moisture once the rains come. Farmers planted their crops as early as possible after the onset of the rainy season to capitalize on the high temperatures which support rapid growth, and to avoid the coincidence of crop flowering with the mid-season dry spell, which is usually experienced during the last half of December to early
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Sorghum Maize Groundnuts Millets
Yield (kg/ha)
Area (ha) X 1000
50 January in semi-arid Zimbabwe. All the crops, except beans, were planted during October to November (Table 2.4-3) which is the onset of summer in Zimbabwe. A similar strategy was reported to be followed by farmers in Ghana (Kudadjie et al., 2004). Beans were planted during January to March as it can grow with residual moisture after harvesting the main crop.
2.4.4.2 Seed system
Apart from maize and the other high value crops, most crops were raised from unimproved seeds of landraces or farm-retained seed (Table 2.4-3), which might partly explain problems of low productivity for these crops. Sorghum, pearl millet, groundnuts, cowpea and bambara groundnuts were mainly planted from retained seed in Chivi and Chipinge North. In Chipinge South, NGOs, government handouts, and the official seed markets were the major sources of seed for these crops. Maize, beans, and cotton were mainly purchased from the official market.
This could be attributed to the fact that maize is a staple crop whereas beans and cotton are high value cash crops and therefore farmers seek high quality seed for these crops. Further, these crops have a well developed crop improvement and seed distribution systems in Zimbabwe.
There are many crop improvement programmes at Seed Co Ltd, Crop Breeding Institute (CBI), Pannar and Pioneer Seeds and other small programmes that are involved in crop improvement.
However, these companies devote greater attention to maize than the legumes; only soybean receives reasonable attention at Seed Co and CBI (about 10%). In the same vein there is a cotton improvement programme at the Cotton Research Institute, and Quton Seeds Ltd produces high quality seeds which are distributed to farmers through input schemes to ensure that high standards of the crop are maintained. Thus, there are opportunities to develop breeding programmes for legumes (cowpeas, beans, bambara groundnut, etc) and for seed companies to distribute seed of these crops. It was observed that small scale farmers very well understood the need to buy new maize seed every year to avoid yield reductions associated with retaining seed because hybrids dominate the market in Zimbabwe. This shows that, once the market is developed or access to it is improved, these farmers would be willing to purchase improved seeds of legumes and other small cereals with high positive impact on crop production.
2.4.4.3 Fertiliser application
One way of improving crop productivity in the smallholder sector is through enhanced use of fertiliser. There were differences in the levels of fertiliser application for all crops and among the districts. Application of fertilisers reflected the importance and value placed on each crop. Data indicates that maize received significantly (P≤0.05) higher rates of fertilisation than sorghum, for example (Figures 2.4-2a and b).
51
Table 2.4-3: The proportion of people who planted various crops at particular times of the year, sourced seed from various sources and marketed their produce to particular markets
Area
Sorghum Maize Pearl Millet Finger Millet Groundnut Beans Cowpea Bambara groundnut Cotton
Chivi Time of planting
1. September 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 - 0.00
2. October 0.43 0.18 0.94 0.95 0.20 0.00 0.91 - 1.00
3. November 0.52 0.50 0.06 0.05 0.80 0.00 0.04 - 0.00
4. December 0.05 0.32 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 - 0.00
5. January 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 - 0.00
6. February 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 - 0.00
7. March 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 - 0.00
Source of seed
1. Retained 0.70 0.02 0.69 0.81 0.68 0.00 0.82 0.00 0.14
2. Official Market 0.16 0.91 0.19 0.10 0.15 1.00 0.05 1.00 0.86
3. NGO Handouts 0.07 0.07 0.12 0.09 0.07 0.00 0.13 0.00 0.00
4. Friends/Relatives 0.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
5. Government 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Market 1. Do not sell 0.02 0.05 0.08 0.29 0.27 0.25 0.65 - 0.00
2. Official market 0.84 0.93 0.42 0.18 0.49 0.75 0.35 - 1.00
3. Informal market 0.14 0.02 0.50 0.53 0.24 0.00 0.00 - 0.00
Chipinge North Time of planting
1. September 0.00 0.00 0.15 - 0.12 0.00 0.13 0.00 0.00
2. October 0.20 0.38 0.15 - 0.16 0.00 0.13 0.00 1.00
3. November 0.62 0.38 0.59 - 0.40 0.00 0.33 0.50 0.00
4. December 0.06 0.19 0.07 - 0.28 0.50 0.33 0.38 0.00
5. January 0.12 0.00 0.04 - 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.15 0.00
6. February 0.00 0.00 0.00 - 0.00 0.00 0.04 0.00 0.00
7. March 0.00 0.00 0.00 - 0.00 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00
Source of seed
1. Retained 0.53 0.34 0.50 - 0.52 0.33 0.52 0.67 0.00
2. Official Market 0.23 0.53 0.19 - 0.17 0.67 0.17 0.33 1.00
3. NGO Handouts 0.12 0.16 0.15 - 0.13 0.00 0.17 0.00 0.00
4. Friends/Relatives 0.12 0.00 0.15 - 0.17 0.00 0.13 0.00 0.00
5. Government 0.00 0.00 0.00 - 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Market 1. Do not sell 0.93 0.89 0.96 - 0.88 0.00 0.87 0.80 0.00
2. Official market 0.03 0.06 0.00 - 0.08 1.00 0.00 0.00 1.00
3. Informal market 0.03 0.05 0.04 - 0.04 0.00 0.13 0.20 0.00
Chipinge South Time of planting
1. September 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
2. October 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.36
3. November 0.38 0.66 0.18 0.18 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.64
4. December 0.59 0.31 0.71 0.82 0.08 0.00 0.18 1.00 0.00
5. January 0.03 0.03 0.12 0.00 0.92 1.00 0.82 0.00 0.00
6. February 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
7. March 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Source of seed
1. Retained 0.10 0.10 0.17 0.25 0.37 0.48 0.50 0.75 0.00
2. Official Market 0.43 0.53 0.28 0.16 0.37 0.22 0.00 0.00 1.00
3. NGO Handouts 0.30 0.07 0.39 0.42 0.15 0.22 0.42 0.25 0.00
4. Friends/Relatives 0.03 0.03 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00
5. Government 0.13 0.26 0.17 0.17 0.04 0.04 0.08 0.00 0.00
Market 1. Do not sell 0.39 0.35 0.82 0.82 0.78 0.89 0.92 0.88 0.00
2. Official market 0.35 0.62 0.06 0.09 0.04 0.11 0.00 0.00 1.00
3. Informal market 0.28 0.03 0.12 0.09 0.19 0.00 0.08 0.12 0.00
52
Quantity
(c) (d)
Quantity
(e) (f)
Quantity
Figure 2.4-2: Levels of fertiliser application for the major crops grown by the communities in Chipinge and Chivi districts in Zimbabwe: (a) Maize, (b) sorghum, (c) pearl millet, (d) groundnut, (e) beans, and (f) cotton
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Chivi Chipinge
North
Chipinge South
Manure (carts) Basal fertiliser (50kg bags) Top dressing fertiliser
(50kg bags) 0
1 2 3 4 5
Chivi Chipinge North
Chipinge South
Manure (carts) Basal fertiliser (50kg bags) Top dressing fertiliser (50kg bags)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Chivi Chipinge
North
Chipinge South
Manure (carts) Basal fertiliser (50kg bags) Top dressing fertiliser (50kg
bags) 0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Chivi Chipinge
North
Chipinge South
Manure (carts) Basal fertiliser (50kg bags) Top dressing fertiliser (50kg bags)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Chivi Chipinge
North
Chipinge South
Manure (carts) Basal fertiliser (50kg bags) Top dressing fertiliser (50kg
bags) 0
1 2 3 4 5
Chivi Chipinge
North
Chipinge South
Manure (carts) Basal fertiliser (50kg bags) Top dressing fertiliser (50kg bags)
(a) (b)
53 Farmers in Chipinge South applied more basal and top dressing inorganic fertilisers to maize, sorghum, pearl millet, groundnuts, and cotton than those in Chipinge North and Chivi (Figure 2.4-2a to f). For beans, the fertiliser rate was the same for both Chivi and Chipinge North (Figure 2.4-2e). In addition to government input schemes, Chipinge South and Chivi had many NGO supplying farming inputs, among them seed and fertilisers. This might be the reason for the higher rates of fertiliser application in the area. Groundnuts and cotton received more fertiliser in Chipinge North the other two Chipinge South and Chivi (Figure 2.4-2d). The observation of the use of inorganic fertiliser in semi-arid Zimbabwe is in agreement with Murwira et al. (1995) who reported 98% of the farmers in Mutoko (Zimbabwe) and 40% of the farmers in Shamva (Zimbabwe) to be using fertilisers in their fields. Farmers in Chipinge South and Chivi put more carts of manure in sorghum and maize than farmers in Chipinge North (Figures 2.4-2a and b).
Farmers in Chipinge South had significantly (P≤0.05) higher mean numbers of goats and cattle per household and therefore could afford to apply more manure on their fields. Farm manures are an important source of crop nutrients in the rural Zimbabwe. Murwira et al (1995) reported that manure was used by 85% of farmers in Mutoko and 65% in Shamva.
2.4.4.4 Crop marketing
There were differences among districts for the use of crops. Maize was mainly sold in Chipinge South and Chivi but was largely consumed at home in Chipinge North (Table 2.4-3). Farmers in Chipinge North and Chipinge South produced sorghum for home use whereas those in Chivi sold most of it (Table 2.4-3). All the other crops, except cotton and beans, which were sold at the official market, were either mainly consumed at home or sold to the informal market (Table 2.4- 3). Beans and cotton are high value crops and their sale brings the much needed income for household requirements. Therefore, they were sold to the official markets for higher returns.
Crop residues were mainly used as livestock feed and manure, and farmers correctly pointed out that they, especially legume residues, were a rich source of animal and plant nutrition.
Discussion on the importance of legumes in farming systems was presented by many authors including Amede (2003) and Sheaffer and Seguin (2003). Maize and sorghum stalks were also used for thatching granaries, houses and home gardens. Sweet sorghum stalks were chewed at home or sold to increase household income. The many uses of crops were also reported by Almekinders and Elings (2001) among the small-holder and resource-poor farmers. Thus breeding programmes aimed at servicing these farmers entails a different approach from the conventional procedures for commercial varieties targeting commercial farmers. For example, in sorghum, traits such as stem thickness and tensile strength for constriction, leaf nutritional qualities for livestock feed, sweet stems for chewing and sale and other non-traditional traits need consideration for subsistence farmers.
54