The planting season is one of the most expensive times for farmers in the cropping calendar. Farmers must dig deeper into their pockets for seeds and fertilizer. All this with the escalating cost of farm inputs, notwithstanding.
Data from our wheat farmers register for example confirms an average wheat production rate of fifteen 90kg bags an acre. There is however the potential for farmers to produce over 27 bags from just an acre of wheat. These statistics do not only apply to wheat but to other cereal, horticulture and even industrial crops as well.
Any wise farmer knows that the only way to survive these hard times is by embracing technology, innovation and efficiency. Loosely translated as, getting more out of your piece of land than is invested in terms of profits.
Here are a few tips that you as a farmer can apply to get more yields from your land.
1. Test your soil before buying fertilizer
Buying fertilizer without testing your soil is like self-medicating without a proper diagnosis. It is always important to check the nutrients your soil is lacking first before getting a specific fertilizer. Experts advise that you test samples of your soil every year or whenever you notice unexplained changes in the quality of your crop. Your soil test results will reveal which important nutrients are missing in your soil and help you pick out the fertilizer you need. Various fertilizer companies now offer fertilizer blends that are specifically suited to address the nutritional deficit in your soil.
2. Plant Early, Plant Effectively
Picking the most appropriate time to plant is often the most important part of planting. The best strategy is to plant as soon as your soil is ready for planting. Here are some tests you can perform on your soil to see if it is ready for planting. An important point to note is that sometimes the rains come early, and it is always good to be caught on the prepared side of things. Planting early can result in increased yields by taking advantage of unexpectedly early favourable soil conditions and earlier than expected downpours.
3. Rotate your crops
When you are planting season after season, it is crucial to understand how planting the same crops back to back can affect your overall yield. Planting maize consecutively for years on the same piece of land, for example, has been proven to be less effective for optimal yields. This means that planting maize repeatedly for years should only be considered when sure that your soil conditions are good enough. If you don’t have access to either, you may need to consider planting alternative crops in alternating years — such as soybeans and canola that help re-condition the soil. Planting alternative crops such as soybeans helps to diversify the demands on your soil. Alternating crops can help fix soil nutritional deficiencies that result in higher yields.
4. Good Seed is everything
Gone are the days when farmers would set aside some of the seed they harvested for the next season. Research institutions like KALRO are always coming up with better yielding, disease and pest resistant seed varieties. A visit to a research institution near you guarantees access to so much information that will help you yield higher this season. Using hybrid seeds that are matched with your soil and climatic conditions will also boost your yields.
5. Consider Seed Dressing
Seed dressing refers to products applied on seeds before planting to protect them from pests and disease. Seed dressing also helps in root formation and improving plant growth since it supports the uptake of nutrients from the soil. Natural seed dressing treatments like panoramix have been reported to increase crop yields for farmers.
6. Chisel instead of disc ploughing
Though the disc plough has been around for decades, experts have warned of its negative effects on the environment. Disc ploughing is more likely to compact your soil and when it does, rainwater is not able to infiltrate through the soil structure. A heavy downpour, for example, ends up as runoff water that erodes the soil. Further, continued disc ploughing results in a hardpan underneath the topsoil. The use of a chisel plough helps to break any existing hardpan and its narrow double ended chisels help to break and aerate the soil. This not only makes nutrient absorption by plants easier but also helps to maintain the soil in its most natural layering.
7. Deposit your crop residue back to the soil after every harvest
Research shows that depositing organic matter such as your crop remains after harvesting stimulates the growth of soil organisms. This helps to make more nutrients available to your soil and eventually your crop.
Organic matter has also been directly and positively linked to soil fertility and increased productivity. This is because your plant residue also contains nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and Sulphur needed by the plants. These residues also improve several soil properties such as water infiltration, storage and particle aggregation.