Edify Hamukale writes: LATE RAINS BRING MIXED FORTUNES Around Mid April 2014, Zambia experienced rains of significant proportions in the high rainfall (northern half) and medium rainfall zones (Midlands). To a maize farmer with non-drooping cobs, the rains may cause serious cob rots that may reduce yields by up to 30%. For a farmer with drooping cobs (hanging facing down after drying but still on the mother plant), the rains may not cause serious loss apart from possibility of termite attack if the plants fell down. A groundnuts farmer may experience spontaneous germination of standing plants and fungal growths. But the same rains make groundnuts harvesting by pulling up much easier. If a farmer has fallow land, this could be the right time to plough down and bury the grass which would be wonderful and well decomposed organic compost by the next rain season. This would help a farmer cut on the fertilizer budget. Livestock farmers may benefit from additional grazing grass shoots that may be supported by the rain moisture well into August thereby making a saving on stock feed budgets. Water dams and reservoirs may get replenished by the rains and fire breaks will be easy to make by mechanical ploughing around the fences. The rains may also help suppress tick populations and breeding cycles thereby reducing tick borne diseases such as Thelerisois, Babesiois, corridor disease and others. This may however, increase the risk of fungal diseases in both crops and animals. To a vegetable farmer with ready seedlings, this could be the right time to transplant and also to prepare land for large scale vegetable production using the free moisture and thus save on irrigation costs. Carefully utilizing late rains may bring significant benefits on a farm steads. I could be wrong but I have observed a shift in the rain season characterized by a late start of rains and a late ending over the past eight years. We may have to redefine the start and ending dates of Zambia’s typical average rain season for planning purposes especially when it comes to planting dates. Global warming and Climate change could partly explain the phenomenon although there are some local effects to be observed critically by our colleagues in meteorological stations.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 11:05:42 +0000
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