Farmers want zero tillage for profitable production

Isaac Pinielo | Tuesday June 7, 2016 15:18

Briefing journalists at a field day in Mosi, Ramatlabama on Saturday, the association’s chairperson, Quett Rabai said government should pave way for adoption of the zero tillage farming system, as it has several economic and environmental benefits.

Zero tillage farming, also called no-till or direct drilling, is a type of soil conservation farming that prepares the land for farming without mechanically disturbing the soil through tillage. “Zero tillage can be a real economic boon to us as farmers as it can save us time and money while increasing our yields at the same time,” said Rabai, on behalf of 23 commercial farmers in Ngwaketse South. Explaining how the system works, he said the previous year’s crops, referred to as the crop residue, are chopped off and left on the topsoil. A zero tillage planter then only slightly punctures the ground to insert a seed. He emphasised that there are countless benefits to the land, the farmer and the environment from adopting a zero tillage system.

“When you go abroad, you will realise that people are using modern technology of zero tillage, and for us we are still stuck in the old-fashioned tillage farming that has proved to be long overdue in Africa,” Rabai said.

The utilisation of crop residues in zero tillage farming also drastically increases water infiltration and therefore retention or less evaporation by the soil.

He said farmers should move forward to modern technology whereby one reaps and cuts the roughage.

“That roughage works to conserve water. For us we still don’t have even the equipment for that technology,” he stated. Rabai said they had also invited their financiers;  Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and the National Development Bank (NDB) to inform them on the challenges faced by farmers and how they can complement each other.

“They (financiers) wanted the report from our recent benchmarking mission in Brazil so that they can see how they can help us move forward,” he added.

He noted that the farmers in Brazil are more advanced in that after reaping they wait for the rains and when it rains they put the planters well designed for zero tillage and well programmed to plant the required number of seeds per hectare with accurate spacing.