YEAR-ROUND FARMING MAXIMISE PROFITS – SEEDCO

FARMERS must learn to engage in farming activities all year round to maximise income generation, Zambia Seed Company Acting National Sales Manager Edward Jere has advised.

Speaking to The Scoop, Mr. Jere noted that vegetable farming could be done throughout the year and provide a steady income to the farmers.

He also noted that in order to have a successful farming business, farmers needed to know the best tactics to use for vegetable farming and also understand its advantages.

“It is important that farmers learn to do their farming business all year round unlike just waiting for the rains to commence and that is when they want to swing into action. If small-scale farmers can realize that farming is a serious business just like other businesses, then the issue of farming all year round cannot be a problem.

“Farmers should not plant vegetables on soils that have poor drainage systems because the accumulation of water in the soils encourages building up of diseases such as black rot, downy mildew among others,” Mr. Jere said.

He said planting vegetables under the tree shades or near tall trees hindered the soils from receiving enough sunlight down the roots, resulting in high cost of production.

“Harvest crops when they become physiologically mature because delayed harvesting results in the plants immune system dropping and they become prone to diseases. Furthermore, the soil texture also plays a big role in production of crops,” he said.

He explained that clay soils had poor drainage systems, while sandy soils drained water quickly and encouraged leaching of fertilizers, high cost of irrigation among others.

“Sandy, loamy, or clay loamy soils are the best but disease tolerance does not mean that the variety cannot be attacked by diseases; it can be attacked but to some acceptable level. Time of planting also plays a big role and each variety of the crop has a specific period in which it flourishes very well without difficulties,” he said.