Zambia’s crop yields could increase from 1.5 tonnes per hectare to 10 tonnes
NKOMBO KACHEMBA
Lusaka
COMMONWEALTH Partnership for Technology Management (CPTM) says Zambia’s crop yields could increase from 1.5 tonnes per hectare to 10 tonnes with lime application.
Lime is a mineral rich in calcium oxides and hydroxides.
CPTM is a non-profit organisation established in 1995 to help Commonwealth countries become leading agents in economic advancement through the sound management of technology and innovation via public-private sector partnerships.
The organisation has since partnered with Global Grains – focusing on improving food security in Zambia through the development of small-scale farming – to conduct trials in Mkushi on how the industrial mineral could improve yields in maize.
On Tuesday, Global Grains and CPTM conducted a field day in Mkushi, showcasing the crops under trials.
CPTM director John Carter said the use of lime in agriculture has been practised since the 1970s.
“In South Africa, the farmers have been using lime in their farming activities. Without lime, they cannot plant their fields because they know that it will be equal to zero. The use of lime in farming has been there since the 1970s,” Mr Carter said.
He said lime reduces the soil acidity and enables plants to absorb the nutrients.
Mr Carter said fertiliser application alone cannot improve the crop yields in Zambia because the soils are acidic.
“In 1960, the crop yield per hectare in Zambia was nine tonnes, but today it is at 1.5 tonnes per hectare. The problem that is there is that the soils are acidic. This is the reason why we need to apply lime to improve them.
When you apply fertiliser, it is difficult for the plants to absorb the fertiliser because of the acidic soils,” he said.
Mr Carter said Zambia has the potential to increase its maize production from three million tonnes to eight million tonnes per annum with the liming of the soils.
He said the country has abundant lime, which the farmers can obtain to improve their crop yields.
During the field day, farmers in Mkushi had an opportunity to ask questions about the trials and lime application.
Global Grain representatives Stewart Parkes and Emily Johnston from Albida Agriculture were on the ground to explain to the farmers the trials, detailing the processes.
Chief Shaibila and Chief Chitina of Mkushi, including various seed companies, were present to learn more about the application of lime to the soils.
And Mr Parkes said lime is the most important nutrient in soils because it improves the PH.
PH is the measure of the acidity or the alkalinity of the soil.
He said lime is the cheapest agriculture product on the market with the highest value and yet farmers are not using it.
Mr Parkes, who has been using agricultural lime at his farm, says the industrial mineral can increase crop yields three times more.
He said the farmers can use micronised lime that is easy to apply and is easily absorbed in the soils.
Ms Johnston said five trial plots have been set up in Mkushi to demonstrate how the application of lime can improve crop yields.
She said the fields were planted in October last year and were not irrigated despite the dry spell which the country experienced from the onset of the rainy season.
Other trial fields have been set up in Katuba village.
Chief Chitina said the farming methods incorporated in the trials are important to the small-scale farmers.
The traditional leader said the farming techniques could help to cut on fertiliser costs, especially for the farmers that are on the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
And Chief Shaibila wants the trial plots to be set up in places where small-scale farming is taking place to give more farmers access to information.
“It is costly for people to come here in the farm block, but if we can have these trials conducted on traditional land, more people will have access to information,” he said.
The traditional leader thanked Global Grains and CPTM for conducting the trials to demonstrate the importance of lime in farming.