27 Mar 2017

As if that is not enough, some farmers had to abandon ploughing or hoeing until the long-lasting rain had subsided, with many missing out on both the regular official ploughing season and the extended period of February 25.
To date, Pandamatenga has received 311 millimetres of rain since January and farmers on the new eastern farms in the Chobe District were hardest hit by floods according to the Pandamatenga Meteorological Office.
The agronomy officer for commercial farmers in the area, Mr Michael Matsila said as the water drainage system on their side had not been completed, only three out of seven people managed to plough within the two-week rain break in February.
He said the two week ploughing extension experienced the highest rain which prevented farmers from accessing their fields. He advised that changing from sorghum to more resistant plants such as sunflower and chickpeas was the best option.
The fact that the heavy rainfall translated into a pest outbreak as they breed well in wet conditions was worrisome, remarked the agronomist, adding that the most prominent has been the Fall Army Worm which farmers and agricultural officials have started controlling.
“The challenge is that you need to spray periodically to get rid of the pest altogether,” he advised, adding that, as for crops turning yellowish, farmers should use nitrogen feeds to correct this.
“That is a sign of the depletion of certain nutrients and minerals in the soil as a result of too much water,” explained the agronomist.
In cases where the damage to seedlings was significant to the point of failure to get off the ground, he advised that the only option would be to re-plant and to change the cropping plan. He noted that such measures would cut their profit margins.
He said the positive thing about the rains was that the likelihood of quelea birds destroying crops this year would be low because there was plenty of vegetation to feed from in the wild.
He added that while rains had delayed some farmers from ploughing, the shortfall was not too bad because last year this time 1 100 hectares still had not been ploughed.
However, he remains optimistic that this would be a bumper harvest year, while the chairperson of the Pandamatenga Commercial Farmers, Mr Devin Wheeler was not as optimistic considering that the rains fell in excess of 150 millimetres just before germination.
Pandamatenga farms have plenty of patches of yellowish and malnourished crops, Mr Wheeler said, adding that most of the crops were damaged by lack of sunlight due to the continuous cloud cover.
“The reality is that some farmers will battle, others had no choice but to re-plough and possibly alter their planting plans. Some of us cannot access farms by road; we have to fly using small aircraft instead,” he said.
As for the invasion of the army worm, he said farmers have been forced to spray every 10 days and that it would affect profit margins.
Mr Wheeler was however grateful for the drainage system that was installed in most of the Pandamatenga farms, which has kept floods at bay.
For Ms Mazisongozi Mafa, a small-scale farmer in Pandamatenga, she had to replant three times after some crops failed to germinate.
Ms Mafa accused the heavy rains for her problems saying, as a precautionary measure, she had started spraying pesticides on the areas that had not germinated well.
District crop production officer, Mr Zachariah Mapetla said 97 per cent of the areas infested with the army worm had been sprayed.
 “We have controlled over 19 000 hectares of the affected, we are only left with about 600 hectares in the Chobe Enclave,” he said.
For now, Pandamatenga farmers can only hope for a break in rain to allow for their crops to recover.
The general view is that as the biggest contributing farms to arable farming in the country, Panda farmers remain cautiously optimistic in the face of uncertainty. ENDS