Zambia Agribusiness Society

 Forking in carrots Introduction A disease in plants can be defined as any disturbance brought about by an agency/factor which interferes with manufacture, translocation or utilization of food, mineral nutrients and water in such a way that the affected plant changes in appearance and or yields less than a normal, healthy plant of the same variety . Causes of Plant Diseases Plant diseases are of two types viz., infectious and non-infectious . The infectious type are caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses. Nutritional deficiencies, mineral toxicities, lack or excess of soil moisture and light, low or too high temperatures, soil acidity or alkalinity constitute the non-infectious type. Usually, a disease causes a progressive and continuous disturbance of cellular activities that eventually become manifest as symptoms. A symptom is a visible or otherwise detectable abnormality arising from disease. Disease symptoms should be closely observed, as they often give indications ab...

Zambian farmer with e-voucher and crops. Zambia's farming sector is getting a digital makeover with the e-voucher system. It's all about making it easier for farmers to get the stuff they need to grow crops, like fertilizer and seeds. This system is a big change from how things used to be done, aiming to help farmers get more out of their land and contribute to the country's food supply. Let's break down what this means for farmers and the wider agricultural scene in Zambia. Key Takeaways Zambia's e-voucher system is a modern approach to the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), aiming to improve how farmers access subsidized agricultural inputs. The system has seen a high redemption rate, with over a million farmers verified and a 99% success rate in recent seasons, showing its effectiveness. Beyond just input access, the e-voucher encourages farmers to diversify their crops and adopt climate-smart farming methods, responding ...

The number of farmers that do not keep farm records is shocking. Some of them complain that they are always busy and don’t have time, while others say that they know how to manage their farms without always writing things down. These are the reasons and attitudes that make us fail all the time we practice farming. You will even find others taking all their receipts at the end of the month/year to an accountant friend to help them calculate production costs and profitability. The problem with this picture is that the accountant will not know what has really been going on at your farm thus causing a lot of irregularities with your financials. Keeping farm records is an important activity in farming. The records have to be accurate and up to date reflecting on all activities that occur on the farm. Knowledge acquired from keeping good farm records is priceless. Farmers should always have their farm records ready before they do any financial analysis, financial decision or budgeting. Impor...

It is spring and that means it is time for farmers to get out into the fields and start planting. Farmers have to dodge rainstorms and when skies are clear they might work through the night to get seeds into the ground. Iowa has amazingly rich and robust soil for those seeds to germinate in. That rich, black topsoil does need some preparation for the ideal growth of seeds. But, have you ever wondered why farmers plow their fields before they plant? Seeds are typically only planted an inch below the soil surface. Farmers want to give those seeds the best chance of germinating and growing. That means mechanically preparing seed beds by breaking the ground. Soil can become dense and compact. Plowing also makes it easier to plant. Plowing breaks up the blocky structure of the soil which can aid in drainage and root growth. Plowing fields can also turn organic matter into soil to increase decomposition and add nutrients from the organic matter to the soil. Many farmer...

We get into business with different motives. However, because entrepreneurship is a jungle of sorts only the very best survive as the weak ones are easily eliminated. Statistics show that 80% of businesses in operation today will fail in the next 5 years. So what makes some entrepreneurs better than others? What type of entrepreneur are you? I would like to present to you 6 types of entrepreneurs and how they cope with challenging times. 6 types of entrepreneurs exposed 1. Survivalists They were forced by circumstances to become entrepreneurs. For instance, they finished college or high school, tried looking for jobs but weren’t lucky enough. Because they had to find means of survival, they moved on to the world of business. They simply sell to survive. If they are lucky to get an employment opportunity, they normally quit entrepreneurship and off they go into the formal economy. Most of their businesses don’t live to see their second birthdays. 2. The copycats A good n...

Poultry farming is one of the fastest-growing businesses in Africa. It's a highly profitable business if you run it in the most appropriate manner, which provides a conducive environment for the birds. If you are planning to invest in poultry this year, here are 10 key areas to focus on to stay ahead of the competition. 1. Don't buy cheaper feed Feed is the biggest component of the cost of any chicken production, be it meat or egg production. It accounts for 70 percent of all the other components. The major component of feed is maize and soya and those two are not cheap. Buy feed that will consistently give you the target kilo of meat per feed fed and the target amount of eggs per kilogram of feed at a lower cost and not at a cheaper cost. The two are different. 2. Measure the feed you give your flock daily Some farmers just give feed to their birds. This must stop if you want to make a profit. You must measure a gram per bird of all the feed allocations daily as per the establ...