As the effects of climate change become more apparent in Zimbabwe, traditional farming methods, like no-till farming, are proving, in some cases, to increase productivity and save money.
Preparing his three-hectare of land for planting each year used to take Musafare Chiweshe – or the laborers he hired – two weeks. Now it takes just hours. Better yet, the land is producing a crop even as southern Africa’s droughts grow stronger and more frequently, a problem linked to climate change. That’s because he is no longer plowing a portion of his farm, but instead planting his seeds directly into the soil, a water-conserving technique called “no-till” farming.
“Come next year you will find even bigger crops in my field,” promised the 67-year-old retired bus driver, who this year expects to harvest 2 tonnes of maize from a half-hectare “no-till” land.
No-till farming is hardly new. Three decades ago, Zimbabwe’s commercial farms adopted the technique and it has been promoted by Zimbabwe research and development organizations since 2004. But it is seeing new popularity among small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe as many, shaken by a recent long drought that killed crops, look for ways to avoid a repeat of those losses the next time drought returns.
About 300,000 small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe, most of whom depend on rainfall to water their crops, are now using the no-till farming system. Besides planting seeds directly into the soil, no-till farming involves allowing the stalks and leaves left from earlier harvests to remain on the ground, to help hold moisture and eventually add nutrients to the soil, building soil fertility over time. Often weeds are sprayed with herbicides rather than removed by digging them from the soil.
The technique has had problems of its own over the last growing season, marked by flooding and heavy rains. In some areas where soils are sandy, farmers practicing no-till farming produce no higher than those of farmers who plowed their land.
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