By Deon Schlechter
WINDHOEK – Despite erratic rainfall in the north central regions, farmers who apply Conservation Agriculture (CA) methods have witnessed good germinations in their rip furrowed and hand-hoe CA basins fields.
The rip furrower method is a Conservation Tillage technique within the wider scope of CA. A ripper outfitted with two ripper tines cracks open the compacted plough pan, allowing for deep root penetration, while wings fitted on the tines create furrows that guide rain water to the planting lines, thus creating an in-field rain water harvesting effect. By adding manure and crop residues in the planting lines soil fertility as well as soil water-holding capacity is built up over time. The method is suitable in drought as well as flood conditions since with the plough pan broken, the water now can seep into the soil like a sponge.
Rip furrowing as well as the hand-hoe basin method land preparation should ideally be carried out during the dry season, from straight on after harvest till the onset of rain, thus giving farmers ultimate planting opportunity early on in the rainy season. However, with the recent prolonged drought spell, soils in some areas during the dry season in 2014 were too hard to rip furrow before the onset of rains at the end of November. Kongalend Financial Services handed over a total of 18 brand new John Deere tractors and Baufi’s Agricultural Services ripper implements in the third week of November, in the north central as well as in Rundu. This turned out to be good timing as the rains arrived soon after. Farmers who received land preparation during the first rain, and thus planted early, are reporting good germination and moisture being retained in the furrows.
Aune Kamuulumbu in Uukwiyu-Uushona constituency in the Oshana region planted her CA field on November 19, and despite a dry spell in December, her field has germinated well. Two additional CA farmers, Isak Silas and Maria Stefanus, from the same region, who also planted early and then experienced the same erratic rainfall patterns, also have witnessed good germination and plant development in their fields.
“As a CA farmer it is important to pay attention to planning crop rotations, practicing early land preparation and early planting. Planting is done in the furrows only, and there is also where manure is applied. In CA, seed and manure is not broadcasted. Thus it is vital to constantly update yourself with information and attend trainings,” says Silas.
Kamuulumbu, Silas and Stefanus are all Lead Farmers in the USAID funded Namibia Conservation Agriculture Project (NCAP), implemented by NCBA CLUSA and local partners Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions and the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU). “This is the fourth year I practice CA. I am very happy that there are now many rip furrowing service providers, meaning I can put my two farms entirely under CA. I look forward to even more service providers as early land preparation is vital. I practice CA because even through long dry spells, plants will still benefit from soil moisture in the ripped furrows due to the water harvesting phenomena and the fact that the hard plough pan is cracked. Obviously, the end result of practicing CA is increased yields even under difficult weather conditions,” said Kamuulumbu.
Gideon Nantinda, the Oshana NCAP Field Coordinator, is very happy with the fact that rip furrowing services to farmers are now available on a larger scale. “The recent presence of many service providers empowered by Kongalend Financial Services’ loans has made all the difference on the ground for the uptake of CA. I wish CA practices to spread to each and every corner of the dry land crop producing regions for the production of food security, not only for the households, but also for the farmers to produce surplus in order to contribute to food security at national level, and in the same process contribute to conserving soils and other natural resources such as trees as conventional farming practices slash and burn, which leads to deforestation. All around, I am very positive to see the enormous interest among farmers to switch to CA methods.”