Zambia Agribusiness Society

Growing bananas does not take much effort, but it does require that you get a few things right when you first get started. Banana plants can offer many benefits: 1.     They make great windbreaks or screens. 2.     They utilize the water and nutrients in waste drains (think washing water or outdoor shower). 3.     The leaves can be fed to horses, cows and other grazers. 4.     The dried remains of the trunks can be used for weaving baskets and mats. 5.     And they give you banana fruits, lots of bananas! Banana plants like the following: 1.     Rich, dark, fertile soils. 2.     Lots of mulch and organic matter (nshima leftovers and any kitchen waste). 3.     A lot of nitrogen and potassium ( chicken manure ). 4.     Steady warmth, not too hot and not too cold. (Bananas are sissies when it comes to temperatures). 5.   ...

Many a times farmers ask the question, what amount of fertilizer should I put to get the maximum yield of maize, soya or wheat? This is a brilliant question that a business minded Farmer should ask because farming is a business with input and output. When output outweighs input then its profit and vice versa it’s a loss. Inputs are what we put into the soil and this includes fertilizer, seed, chemicals, water, labour and management. In this article we will start looking at fertiliser input and the question “How much fertiliser should one put per unit area at any given time to a particular crop to realise maximum crop yields?” Before answering this question lets remind farmers that each crop has a specific nutrient requirement hence forth a special fertilizer. With this in mind we have variety of fertilizers to address these requirements. Some examples of specific Fertiliser for some crops are indicated in the table below. We commonly talk about fertilizer in terms of Nitrogen, Phosphor...

Sweet potatoes are a staple food in many cultures, and rightfully so. They’re inexpensive, nutritious, and taste great. But did you know that their leaves are also edible? And not only that, they’re actually quite nutritious! Read on for 11 benefits of sweet potato leaves, as well as tips on how to prepare them. Nutritional value of sweet potato leaves 100 grams of steamed sweet potato leaves  contain : Calories:  35.0 Carbs:  22.7 g Protein:  4.0 g Fat:  0.3 g Fiber:  2.0 g Vitamin A:  1028 IU, or 21%   of the Daily Value (DV) Vitamin K:  69.5 mcg, or 87% of the DV (when cooked) Vitamin C:  11.0 mg, or 18% of the DV Magnesium:  61.0 mg, or 15% of the DV Riboflavin:  0.3 mg, or 20% of the DV Potassium:  518 mg, or 15% of the DV Folate:  80.0 mcg, or 20% of the DV Manganese:  0.3 mg, or 13% of the DV Vitamin B6:  0.2 mg, or 9% of t...

I want to talk about dirt, it’s often the most overlooked and underappreciated part of gardening. People like to just walk all over it like it doesn’t even exist. Its dirt, yeah trying to make that sound exciting is harder than I thought. We need good soil to grow good plants, and if you can get it balanced and enriched just right, the use of chemical fertilizers isn’t necessary! One of the biggest things I have against “lawns” and “yards” is that they are a status symbol from back in the day when the wealthy families would show off their wealth by having huge plots of land they didn’t need to use. They could have acres of land that they didn’t need to till or toil over because they could buy everything they need. Yes the space is wonderful! Me on the other hand, I would much rather use the space for medicine and food then have it just look pretty. Now don’t get me wrong, pretty can be useful, like the rose. It’s medicinal and beautiful! Instead of spending our time getting use...

Aquaculture is highly getting favoured all across the world. With its numerous purposes, aquaculture is majorly getting adopted for food production and restoration of threatened and endangered species populations. In addition, it has become a prevailing alternative to protein-rich food sources. At the same time, aquaculture provides white meat, which offers an array of health benefits. Therefore, the rising health concerns including high cholesterol levels and others are further leading to proliferate the demand for aquaculture. Other than this, aquaculture production is also getting utilized for various other purposes. For instance, Algae are getting developed as a substitute for fossil fuel to produce fuel sources. For a fact, fuel generated from algae is the cleaner and cultivable source of energy. Therefore, this can totally remodel the energy sector and help to build a more stable economy. Similarly, various other experiments and research and development procedures are further lea...

The main reason to hill potatoes is to increase yield. Potatoes form along the underground stem of the plant and not from the roots. So hilling effectively lengthen the underground portion of the stem thus increasing yield. You can either add additional soil to the bed and then mound it around the plants, or you can scoop up soil from the rows and press it against the stems. Later in the season, it’s easy to reach in and check the potatoes for size before you harvest them. After the plants reach about 20 to 30cm tall, soil needs to be hilled around the plants for the potato tubers to grow in. These “hills” or ridges are where the potatoes will form, and it is important to keep them covered and away from sunlight. If the potato tubers come in contact with sunlight they can become green and not fit to eat. In fact, green potatoes can carry toxins and could become poisonous. To prevent this, potatoes should be hilled at least 3 to 4 times during their growth cycle. The more you can hill t...

The disease is caused by bacteria and occurs in moist soils, coupled with high temperatures and soils with high pH. It is mostly spread through contaminated irrigation water, contaminated farm tools or infected planting seeds. The disease has no cure, so monitoring, preventing, direct control measures remain the best practices. Symptoms and identification The younger leaves appear to wilt during hotter parts of the day which then recovers at night when temperatures are cooler. Rapid wilting of the whole plant without yellowing. Plants appear to have a stunted growth. When stem of infected plant is cut a brown colour resulting from damaged tissues is seen with a slimy substance oozing from a fleshly cut stem. Cultural control and preventive measures Do not plant in infested soils by avoiding fields where tomatoes had been planted before. Crop rotate with non-host plants such as maize, beans and cabbages. Remove infected plants immediately and discard them using bags to av...