Good Agronomic Practices have the potential to double yields of most crops in Malawi

In Malawi just like whole world that we need to increase food production if we are to feed the growing population with shifting diets in near future. The population of Malawi is projected to grow to 25 million people by the year 2030 and double by year 2050 (http://www.livepopulation.com). The diet in most households has shifted, people are now consuming more animal products than previous decades and demand for rice is growing due to increase in income and urbanization. Therefore our farmers are faced with the challenge to increase food production but they can no longer do so by expanding agricultural land as our grandfather’s generation used to do, because there is no more land left for agricultural expansion. The only option is that of increasing food production on the existing land/farm area and the 1 million dollar question is how will farmers increase food production without opening new farm areas?

In this article I will explain good agronomic practices (GAP) as an avenue that can enable to increase food production on the current farming area in Malawi. Worldwide GAP accounts for 50% or more increase agricultural productivity.

Principle Components of Good Agronomic Practices

1)      Profitable and sustainable crop rotations

Crop rotation is an important agronomic practices that enhances long term soil productivity and prevents build-up of pests and diseases. The recommendation is to rotate crops that of different families. In Malawi’s Maize dominated cropping system the common practice is to rotate maize with legume crops such as soybean, pigeonpea, groundnuts, cowpea and other legumes. In some parts such as Lower Shire where people grow more sorghum, legumes should be rotated with sorghum.  Such rotations in the context of Malawi are both profitable as farmers will have a crop to harvest from each year and sustainable due to additional nitrogen fixed by legumes that will partly reduce amount of fertilizer application.

2)      Well adapted, Quality seeds

You should always plant seeds for the varieties that are best adapted to your area and are likely going to desirable yields. If you do not have the knowledge about adapted and high performing varieties, consult agricultural extension workers in your area, they usually have a list of varieties that are suitable to particular areas.  Make sure you are planting seeds that have high vigour, free from pests and diseases and do not recycle seeds of hybrid maize varieties.

3)      Timing of planting

Planting early is important to maximize yield potential. Make sure you also plant at correct spacing each variety has its recommended planting spacing in different systems.

4)      Crop residues and soil management

“Prepare your soils and mage the residues from previous crops in the right way to ensure the right conditions for the seeds to be planted to grow very quickly and vigorously” Dobermann. Residues from previous crops should be put back into the fields to improve soil health by adding organic matter when they decompose but also release nutrients back. Putting back residues will reduce amount of mined nutrients, nutrients removed by harvesting crops.

5)      Maximize water capture

Maximize the use of available water by implementing structures that will reduce runoff such as contour and box ridges and harvesting rain water and constructing dams. Pit planting is also being used in some areas to encourage water infiltration and mulching to reduce water lost through evaporation.

6)      Balanced use of mineral fertilizer and other sources

Make sure to balance the use of mineral fertilizer and any other organic sources of nutrients.  Some nutrients such as nitrogen are very expensive other come from soil so we need to use them efficiently and recycle them as much as possible. I will encourage you to use the 4Rs of nutrient stewardship that promote best management practices to achieve cropping goals while minimizing field nutrient loss and maximizing crop uptake. These 4Rs are Right source, Right rate, Right time and Right place.

7)      Integrated pests management

Make use of all possible combination of measures that include cultural, biological, chemical and physical practices to manage pests. Utilize mainly ecological principles and relies much on protective measures of chemical kinds. 

8)      Timing of harvesting

Make sure you harvest at the right time not too earl and not too late to avoid losing out on yield or quality aspects of your produce. Almost 1/3 of the food we produce is lost and wasted.

These practices vary from one field to another so we need to implement what is applicable to our situations. 

Pigeon peas' Long Taproot system Confers their drought resistance characteristics

Pigeon pea roots grows deep down the soil to access water from lower lower soil layers horizons).

Pigeon pea roots growing more than 120 cm deep down the soil.

How to start a farm with no money

'How to start a farm with no money' it sounds crazy right?. I equally felt he same when I first heard about about the statement, and I thought its neither pragmatic nor worthy an idea pursuing.

But with deep reflection of our current situation you will understand that it is actually what we should start doing. It is exactly what most most young Malawians are actually thinking about, and exactly what I have been thinking for long.

With the growing rate of unemployment among young Malawians, there is a movement among the youth youth towards self employment. Agriculture is one such enterprise that us the youth see feasible and easier to venture into but main obstacles we face are lack of land and startup capital, qualified as the basic factors of production.

That compelled me to go into search of ideas regarding how I could still establish a farm even if I have no money. The YouTube video by John Suscovich saved as the light at the end of tunnel.
In this video John Suscovich presents two things that enabled him start a farm without grant money;
1. Make little savings and invest in your farm

2. Be resourceful, think on your feet, make something out of nothing;
 find the cheapest land (see pic below) you can get, either from village heads like in Malawi situation or asking to utilize part of most idle lands we see around and then eventually purchase permanently. Make sure all resources will be reused and/or recycled. 

The cheapest land I have got from Salima district, it is a virgin land

Having found solutions to main stumbling blocks when you want to start a farm,and now that you are set and more than eager to start farming I would also like to give you some 9 Nice Rules that I read from www.artofmanliness.com  about starting your farm, I will just revise them here for you;

Rule #1: Avoid Debt!

Farming doesn’t HAVE to be financed with borrowed money. Avoiding debt should be a primary goal for any new farmer, even if they have to start very, very small for a few years. That’s how our farm started. And clearly, I still save my pennies.

In a nutshell, debt (borrowing money, with interest) allows us to accelerate our goals, turning dreams of tomorrow into realities of today. While borrowed money might buy us a tractor, a new barn, or even the land we’ll be farming, experience, the most valuable farming asset of all, cannot be purchased.

Experience doesn’t come with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, and it certainly doesn’t come from a book. Agriculture is fraught with uncertainties, surprises, and intellectual challenges. 

Rule #2: Allow Yourself the Opportunity to Fail

 It’s okay to fail. Moreover, in farming, it’s important to fail. While painful at first, failure can be an enormously useful tool. It helps us learn our personal limits of time and energy. It’s an instrumental timesaver in the long run, letting us know what works well, and what’s a complete boondoggle. Failure provides us perspective for future enterprises, making us intellectually stronger, more emotionally resilient.

Rule #3: Identify Your Market Before You Start Farming

Before you plant that first seed, raise your layer hen, or milk your cattle, take the time (lots and lots of time) to figure out where you’re going to sell your products, who is going to buy them, and how you’re going to do it. Once you’ve done this, create a backup plan. Then, come up with another backup plan. Chances are you’re going to need them. 

Rule #4: Match the Land to Its Suited Use

We can try to force our human dreams onto the land, or we can work with what nature gives us.

Involve right people to evaluate your land and recommend how best you can utilise it, s for my Salima Land above, its perfect for livestock production.

Rule #5: Grow Your Passion 

Everyone knows that farming is hard work. So do yourself a favor: grow something that you love. It may seem like common sense, but we often find our decisions driven more by finances, tradition, or inertia than by something we truly love.

Rule #7: Don’t Worry about What Other People Think

There’s an old saying that goes, “The easiest way over the wall is through the door.” In this case, perhaps it’s an open gate. There’s nothing more satisfying than following our own intuition, and being true to our dreams.

People will always talk their opinion about everything you do, my advise is follow you heart. Listen but in the end make a final decision that you won't look back and regret. Let them talk and they will change the talk with your progress but be film on your decision. 

Rule #8: Have a Sense of Humor

When it comes to farming, it’s only a matter of life or death.

Think about it for a second. Take an average day at a mainstream job. What’s the worst that typically happens? A client gets pissed off, or an irate customer reams out the supervisor.

On any given day on a farm, things die. And not in any noble, dignified, or discreet kind of way, either. Things die screaming, eviscerated, and—more often than we’d care to think about—partially masticated. 

Frankly, it puts this whole farming thing in perspective pretty quickly. And faced with the possibility of daily mayhem, a sense of humor can be a handy-dandy coping mechanism.

Rule #9: Read. Ask Questions. Share Your Knowledge.

Okay, so this is really numbers nine, ten, and eleven all rolled into one. Consider it a farming Venn diagram.

Don’t like to read? Start. Read everything that hits your intellectual radar.

Shy? Get up near the teacher if you want to learn anything. 

Have an ego? Better to lose it now, before Mother Nature loses it for you.

Last but not least (bonus rule!): Be generous with your knowledge, especially with people who want to learn from you.

Dairy cattle Integrated with leguminous crops can improve smallholder farmers productivity in Malawi

Feeding dairy cattle to produce increased milk yield of high quality  is a major challenge for dairy farmers in Malawi. Feed is highly scarce during dry months between August to November. During rainy season feed is abundant however, it is mostly grass type which mostly of low quality.

Integrating legume crops within the dairy farm can help reduce the feed challenge farmers face. In technical this kind of farming system is called integrated livestock - crop production system more specifically I would call the system integrated dairy - crop production. 

Components of an Integrated Dairy – Crop production systems

Dairy farmers should focus on planting edible legume crops such soybean, groundnut, cowpea and pigeonpea. The more benefit would be attained if these crops are interplanted with cereal crops such as maize or sorghum. Figure 8 below illustrates components, benefits and interactions among systems.

a)   Edible Legume crops such groundnuts, soybean, cowpea, pigeonpea and other crops adapted to their environments.

• Grain legumes should be harvest and utilized in the household diets.
• Legume residues should be gathered to be fed directly to cattle, make silage or mix with other cereal crop residues.

b)     Cereal crops such as Maize, sorghum, millet, rice, finger millet, wheat should be grown depending on adaptability to that environment and apply manure from dairy khola.

Gather cereal residues to be fed to dairy cattle 

c)   Resources Cycling

•       Make compost manure from livestock wastes
•       Biogas production from livestock and animal wastes
•       Feed preparation from crop residues

Benefits from integrated dairy - crop production system

• Quality and cheap feeding material to dairy cattle
•  Improves soil fertility.
• Increased milk yield
• Improved milk quality
•  Efficient resource utilisation.
•  Manure availability to crop.
•  Improves human nutrition