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Conservation farming: improving crop yields
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| Planting basins Photo: Valerie Chanda Chibuye |
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Department of World Services Zambia, has been promoting the adoption of conservation farming among its target groups in the Food Security and Livelihood (FOSELI) project since 2006. The project focuses on building the capacity of the targeted beneficiaries in conservation farming and other agricultural technologies that promote soil and water conservation.
Conservation farming promotion mainly focuses on the use of locally available soil nutrient enhancing resources such as animal and plant residues. Conservation farming is done by ‘ripping’ (using a ripper that is driven by oxen) or making permanent planting stations or ‘basins’. Basins are made by hand using a hoe following standard dimensions of depth, width and length.
Harvest secured without chemicals
Many of FOSELI’s 3000 directly targeted households in Chipata district have adopted conservation farming. Lazarus Banda, a 34 year old farmer and his 29 year old wife Alice Manda of Kamoto Village, Chief Chikuwa situated in Sisinje agricultural camp, zone 1 were introduced to conservation farming by change agents in 2004. However, they did not take it up seriously until 2006 when Lazarus became a Community Agricultural Worker (CAW) in the FOSELI project.
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Lazarus Banda, Alice Manda and 3 of their children standing next to their granary |
For Lazarus and Alice who have 5 children and are expecting their sixth, conservation farming has now become a ‘lifestyle’. According to the couple conservation farming gives them higher yields compared to the traditional conventional farming method. In the 2009/2010 season the couple harvested approximately 49x50 Kilogrammes (Kg) bags of maize from an area of 3 lima (1.83 acres). The two have observed that conservation farming secures their harvest even when there is a drought because the method is good in terms of water retention. It is also a cheaper way of producing food because there is no need to purchase expensive external inputs such as chemical fertilizers for soil improvement.
Positive results inspire others
Adoption of conservation farming is not confirmed to those that are directly targeted by the FOSELI project. Indirect beneficiaries include those that have been inspired to take up the technology based on the positive results that they have observed from others. 59 year old Magombo Chisale and his 52 year old wife Agnes Sakala of Kamoto Village, Chief Chikuwa in Sisinje agricultural camp, zone 1 became conservation farmers in 2009, after observing the good yields harvested by other farmers using the method in their vicinity.
What inspired Magombo most was that conservation farming makes it possible to get a very good harvest from a small area in comparison with conventional methods. According to the couple, they were only harvesting about 10x50 Kg bags of maize from one and a half lima (0.91 acres) by using conventional methods but this year they have harvested 45x50 Kg bags of maize from their 1 lima conservation farming plot (0.61 acres). Magombo and his wife did not use any chemical fertilizer on their conservation farming plot but utilized animal manure and anthill soil to improve the soil nutrient levels.
A farmer led field experiment
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| Dyphone Nyanga in his experimental plot explaining his plans to fellow farmers Photo: Valerie Chanda Chibuye |
30 year old Dyphone Nyanga of Mtizywa Village, Chief Nzamane in Kanyanja camp zone 7 who adopted conservation farming in 2007 is very impressed with this farming method. His passion with the method gave rise to his innovative initiative to conduct a farmer led field trial to establish the best soil nutrient source that could be added to the basins to increase fertility levels. He has already started preparing the basins where the experiment will be done with support from his 22 year old wife Rachael Jere. The aim of the experiment is to compare the performance of maize plants that will be grown in different basins filled with different sources of nutrients e.g. cow dung, goat droppings, chicken droppings or sunflower cake.
A way out of food insecurity
Conservation farming has proved to be a very appropriate technology to move poor marginalized rural population out of perpetual food insecurity into more food secure households. By reducing the cost of production, it has increased the ability of these household to have increased access to food even with very minimal financial resources. Conservation has also reduced hunger in times of drought because it is also a very good adaption mechanism for extreme weather. It should therefore be highly promoted in adapting to the negative effects of climate change.
By Valerie Chanda Chibuye, Food Security and Relief Programme Officer at DanChurchAid Zambia
