Zambia Agribusiness Society

Purple, green, orange, yellow, red? No, these aren’t colours of M&Ms. These are some of the colours you’ll see on agriculture crop seeds that have been treated with the latest technologies to fight diseases and pests. Treating seed is nothing new. Farmers have been using different types of seed treatments dating clear back to 60 A.D. In this blog post, you’ll learn more about how farmers use them today and why. So, just what is Seed Treatment? Seed treating is the act of applying a product to a seed prior to planting. When seeds go into the ground, there are many diseases and pests just waiting to take advantage of those young seeds and seedlings for their own benefit. Farmers want to protect their investment so treating seed is one way to help prevent crop loss. There are a variety of treatments, but the main categories include fungicides, insecticides, and antimicrobial products. Fungicides  are chemical compounds or organisms used to kill fungi or their spores. Typically

Garlic is one of the easiest and most satisfying crops for home vegetable gardeners to grow. It yields two useful crops; the garlic bulbs themselves, and delicious green “scapes” a month earlier. Because it is usually planted in the fall and begins to grow early in the spring, garlic provides the garden with something green and encouraging, long before other crops have germinated. About garlic Freshly harvested garlic, ready for curing. Garlic ( Allium sativa ) is a member of the onion family. Garlic varieties are classified into softneck and hardneck (also known as topset) varieties. Hardneck varieties produce a false flower stalk called a scape, and generally produce fewer, larger cloves than softneck varieties. As a general rule, hardneck varieties are hardier and better able to withstand our cold winters than softneck varieties. Softneck varieties are required if you plan to braid your garlic. Starting materials Garlic doesn’t produce flowers or seeds. The individual cloves

Please note that urea on its own cannot be fed to goats. ·          The use of urea in goats requires the following steps and mixing rations. ·          When crushing the maize we recommend hard crushing (at least 5mm screen sizes). ·          Dissolve urea in water before mixing. ·          Use a ration of 1:20 between urea and maize crush. ·          A 50kg of urea dissolve in 75 to 100 litres of water (you can do this overnight). ·          Sprinkle the syrup on a tonne of maize crush or proportionately and mix thoroughly. ·          This feed will be 13 to 15% CP and can now be fed to goats in quantities between 1kg to 2kg maximum per day. ·          Goats being fed this feed need hay adlib and water all the time. ·          A standard 7 day break in period is required. ·          Goats on this diet should not have access to poultry manure or soya bean stover. Source: C. T. Ndavambi

Goat farming can be a very lucrative business if done right. Choose the right breeds of goats for your location and experience and you could raise superior livestock. Here’s all you need to know to prepare your goat farming business plan. Livestock production is one of the most important activities of agriculture. If you’d like to turn a profit raising superior livestock, then consider goat farming. Goats provide milk, meat and fibre. Goats have played multiple roles in the support of mankind in the last 7000 years and is one of the oldest species of domesticated animals. Many small farmers and backyard raisers have found you can earn a lot of money raising goats. So, if you are thinking of starting a goat operation, then this article is for you. An effective business plan is a must for taking hold of business opportunities. With goat farming being a highly profitable business idea, it is just as necessary to make a proper goat farming business plan before starting a farm. It

A pregnant doe Pregnancy indicates a potential increase in the stock of farm animals. This, in most cases, is a delight to the farmer. Detecting pregnancy or estimating the gestation periods of your farm animals are things the farmer must know. In this piece, we look at how to do simple pregnancy or conception detection and the gestation period of various farm animals. Why is it important to know pregnancy detection and gestation periods? It helps to plan ahead for the incoming stock. You also get to know which of your stock is productive. You are able to prepare and manage your resources well, like feed, space and time. It also helps to keep proper records of your animals. Methods of detecting pregnancy in animals Pregnancy can be detected by; The signs showed by the female animals and you can see this externally. The symptoms of pregnancy which can be detected by examination e.g. vaginum examination. Laboratory test carried out biologically or chemically. A preg