The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo Senior Farming Reporter
THE Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) has urged farmers who managed to harvest some crops this year to guard against qualitative and quantitative loss of crop yields. Agritex Matabeleland North provincial agronomist, Mr Davison Masendeke said there was need for farmers to expedite the harvesting of rain-fed summer crop as well as properly storing the produce to avert it from being damaged.
He said multiple practices should be implemented on farms to maximise grain quality. These, said Mr Masendeke, include using appropriate production and harvest practices, maintenance and proper use of grain handling equipment, drying systems and storage structures.
“Farmers should speed up harvesting the little that they realised to prevent their yields from being damaged while still in the fields. The meteorological department has predicted rains and this means that their produce is likely to rot due to moisture. It will also be susceptible to weevils and rats. When grain harvest time approaches, it is time to review basic on-farm grain storage principles for maintaining quality of stored commodities. Harvest should include preparation of storage structures to receive grain. Preparation includes several practices that aid in preventing pest infestations from developing within our storage structures,” Mr Masendeke.
He said soon after harvesting, there was need to properly thrash and treat the grain against pests.
“Farmers should make sure they put rat guards underneath their granaries to ensure that rodents don’t find their way into these storage facilities. The granaries should also be properly thatched for aeration purposes to cool the stored grain and create a better storage environment.
“Farmers should also ensure that they remove most of stover from their field after harvesting and keep it for their animals as feed during the dry season. They should however, leave a few so as to prevent the washing away of soil when it rains but as a department we are now discouraging this because livestock stray into the fields and drop foreign weed that will be attached on them,” Mr Masendeke said.
Matabeleland South Agritex provincial officer, Mr Judia Ncube said farmers tend to lose part of their produce while harvesting hence there was need to adhere to precautionary measures to avoid such losses.
“Farmers tend to lose most of their produce during harvesting and while transporting it hence they should take precautionary measures in these processes. They should also have enough insecticides to preserve their grain from pesticides,” Mr Ncube said.
Government has already declared the food situation a State of Disaster and has called for support from donors and other partners to feed at least 3 million people in need of food aid.
In its latest report released two weeks ago, WFP, a major food aid partner, said: “Increased rains in March-April have marginally improved harvests in some districts, but overall crop situation remains bleak, and food insecurity is anticipated to spike as from July in all districts, as available stocks deplete. WFP anticipates that 2015-16 maize production won’t cover more than three months of domestic consumption requirements (of annual 1,8 million tonnes).”
