Zambia Agribusiness Society

For the past few years. I have been involved in farming activities mainly for home consumption and once in a while trade. From the onset, I must state here that farming is a very lucrative business but has challenges. However, if one has to eat, they must at least learn to produce one. This is the financial independence that we all need. It comes in different forms. Others like to buy, and others like to produce and sell, but whatever the case, both must benefit mutually, though the producer must get more in order to produce more. I have had difficulties producing more in the recent past due to unstable market prices. For instance, in 2019, I produced 120 by 50kgs of maize and at the time, the price for our staple food had really dropped to undesirable prices for a peasant or small scale farmer like me and others in these villages. The, then prices of maize, made most of us peasant/small scale farmers decide to reduce our focus on maize production as decided that now it was time ...

In 2012, I ventured into maize farming at my ‘Chimpinga Farm’ in Chipata. It was a huge project and I later discovered that maize is not that profitable. It is labour intensive and require a lot of inputs such as pricy fertilizers and weed killer. After my “successful” harvest that season, I was shocked with the price that was on offer for the purchase of maize from both the private sector and the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) . The margins were very tiny! Not making business sense at all! A friend visited my farm when we were preparing land for maize cultivation. He is an experienced and successful rancher. “Why waste land like this Baba Jere?” he asked. “There is no money mu Vi Nchebele Baba…” he said, alluding to the fact that maize farming is not profitable unless the maize is meant for making feed for animals. He suggested that I fence my farm and consider bringing in game or cattle which require less labour compared to maize farming. I am still thinking about that proposa...

Our maize field has started tasselling already. This maize field was started up by irrigation and the rains have supplemented it. Seen in the pictures is a late maturity maize field. Below is a brief guide: 1. Seed Requirement per Hectare 20 - 25kg of seed is required to cover a hectare. 2. Spacing Between the line 75cm - 90cm. Between the plants 20cm. Depth 3cm - 5cm. 3. Fertilization Basal-dressing: D-compound is applied at time of planting. 4 x 50kg bags per hectare. Top-dressing: Urea is applied when the plants are about 30cm or knee level. 4 x 50kg minimum. Urea is the source of nitrogen for maize. 4 bags of urea is the minimum to apply per ha. However, we apply more by doing a second dose as maize responds positively to nitrogen. This gives us better yields. 4. Weed Management Pre-emergence weed control: Apply your weed control chemicals immediately after planting. Spray within 3 days of planting. 5. Insect Management Very Crucial The ...

This is just a guide for farmers who want to get the full yield potential of maize seed varieties. Seed companies will always say their varieties have a potential yield of 8 – 12ton/ha but this tonnage is mostly achieved by commercial farmers while small-scale farmers only achieve 2 – 3ton/ha which is just peanuts for a variety that has a yielding capacity of 8 – 12ton/ha. In order to achieve this yield potential farmers need to make sure that in their production they don’t exclude the aspect of crop protection (Agro chemicals) and nutrition (i.e. fertilizer). Below is a guide on good maize management. Take note that this write up is based on 1 hectare and the prices attached are subject to change depending on the time of purchase. 1. Seed              Maize seed has a lot of varieties on the market, contact Seed Companies for the best variety to plant in your area. Few recommended medium varieties which are usually mor...

1. The choice of land preparation matters. Ploughing does more harm than good (ok this one I learnt from Sebastian Scott a few years back). 2. There are other basal fertilisers other than compound D which perform much better than compound D in maize production. 3. Plant spacing matters when it comes to attaining high yields. 4. Organic matter in the soil plays a big part in providing nutrients to your plants and protecting your soil.  Manure ,  compost   etc. use it (the Agronomists re-iterated the knowledge passed down to me from my ancestors). 5. Soil testing  and  liming   your yields is an often ignored activity which is basically the difference between high yield and poor yield. 6. There is an element called Boron which is essential for the growth or should I say fruiting/cobbing of your plants. 7. You can achieve better yields on small fields with good management practices than on large fields with limited knowledge and trying to str...

We all want to make a profit in farming but what matters is the crops that can give us good profit margin and as well as when should those crops be grown. I always tell farmers that all crops can give us good profit for as long as we have timing. Last year I had a conversation with a certain accountant from a certain school in Muchinga province who liked growing maize at all cost. Well I had to give him my views and analysis of few crops for her to get the picture and decide whether to continue growing maize or venture into other crops. Below is my enterprise budget analysis to her and I think it can be of help to you in one way or another. "You see madam, maize is good to grow because the market is always available as it is our stable food but show me one person who failed to grow maize even for his consumption!! It is a crop which we all can grow. In most cases we start the land preparation in November if not October or even September. If we pick October as our starting mont...

Pilot roll-out of biopesticide, Fawligen, in South Sudan. Partnership project between CABI and AgBiTech, CIMMYT, FAO, USAID and the South Sudan Ministry of Agriculture. Photo Credit: CABI CABI has briefed the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on a successful project to deploy a safe-to-use and environmentally friendly biopesticide in the fight against the  fall armyworm  (FAW) pest in South Sudan. Dr Ivan Rwomushana , senior scientist of Invasive Species Management based at  CABI’s centre in Nairobi, Kenya , told the FAO and more than 150 scientists how 500 smallholder farmers have already seen 63% yield increases — worth $609/ha — from using Fawligen, a product called based on a baculovirus. The technical webinar, entitled ‘Pesticide and Biopesticide in Fall armyworm Control: Protecting Health of Plants, People and the Planet,’ heard how smallholder farmers — instead of deploying synthetic pesticides that ca...

In Africa maize does well when intercropped with beans or other legumes. The intercropped legumes should be sown at the time of first weeding in order not to crowd out the young maize plants. Since maize is a heavy feeder and takes considerable nutrients out of the soil, it can only be grown continuously on the richest soils or when heavily fertilized. Recommended legumes for intercropping in Kenya are: beans, pigeon peas, cowpeas,  groundnuts  and  soybeans . Other crops that have been tried with varying success include: 1.     Potatoes 2.     Cassava 3.     Pumpkin Intercropping maize with beans and other legumes regulates pests (leafhopper, leaf beetles, stalk borer, and  fall armyworm ) and increases the land utility. Intercropping Canavalia (Canavalia spp.) with maize improves soil productivity. Intercropping maize with beans and squash enhances parasitism of caterpillars. This practice increases fo...