District Mayor Observes Farms

12.9.24

By Tracy Blackmer, PhD

I am finally over a cold I had for the better part of last week. I brought a digital thermometer with me to monitor my temperature and check for early signs of malaria, but I am convinced I only had a cold. I am now fully back to normal.

The weather is still achieving a daytime high in the mid-90s F, but is going to start declining as the rainy season begins. The scouts are fully engaged with the growers now.

District Mayor Visits

Last week, we hosted the district mayor at the research farm and even one of the grower fields while it was being group planted. The mayor’s position serves similarly to a blend between a county supervisor and a governor in Iowa.

I met with the mayor when I visited in March, and was struck by his questions. He seemed more like a Harvard business analyst than a political official. He also farms with his wife. The mayor quickly grasped what we were trying to teach, and its impact. He also understood we envisioned more than just training farmers, but rather we were extending that and focusing on training the trainers. It’s an endeavor with the power to multiply farming knowledge more quickly.

After touring the research farm, the mayor wanted to see the crew in action, so we took him to the closest grower field in our program, which was being planted. When we exited the vehicle, he turned to the pastor and me and said, “I don’t want to talk with you, but I want to talk with a scout.”

We pointed out the scouts, and he talked with them for almost 30 minutes and even helped with a little planting. He told us we were very good teachers, because the scouts told him all the points we had discussed at the research farm. As an added bonus, at a different grower’s field beside ours, the scouts pointed out to him all the problems that were occurring because of the traditional method of planting used.

The scouts work very hard with the growers and are making good progress toward finishing planting by this Saturday. The lack of rain makes the fields dry and harder to plant. Many people here express nervousness about the delay in the rains, while they continue suffering from the drought of last season. About 10 percent of the fields are at the five-leaf stage (roughly a foot tall). Those plants have enough root development that they are surviving, but struggling. Smaller plants look very stressed and have started to die.

Growing Season and Weather

The growing season in Zambia is considerably different than Iowa’s. The corn growing season is based entirely on rainfall that usually starts in December, which is when farmers in Zambia plant. They grow 130-day maturity corn, and starting in January, the weather cools. January to May daily high temperatures register only in the 70s F. Harvest occurs in May. Most of the rain occurs from December to February. Late planting means less heat units and less rain on average.

I use two different weather apps on my phone that I set to the Petauke area. December 8, one app predicted a 10 percent chance of rain and the other said 80 percent. Neither app seems to be consistently more accurate than the other. The overall accuracy for rain is limited, but the temperature and wind predictions are pretty reliable.

Many growers wait for rain to start planting. One complication is that we received several small rains with more rain predicted, but they did not occur. A rainfall event a couple of weeks ago caused a run on the seed and fertilizer, making the corn seed hybrid and variety availability limited. It was very interesting to watch how many 100 lb. bags of fertilizer farmers could carry on a motorcycle or in the trunk of a car.

Zambians Need Herbicide Knowledge

With a few rains, an initial flush of weeds popped up. Herbicides are available, but the largest I have seen is 1-liter containers. Few growers use the herbicides, because they are so poor. If they can afford them, they use backpack sprayers. I have not been able to find any surfactants or even ammonium sulfate. The growers do not use any personal protective equipment and often walk barefoot or in sandals while spraying. The guidance for the appropriate use of the herbicide is often limited and in error.

Herbicide knowledge among farmers contrasts greatly with those in the U.S. The understanding of selective versus non-selective is well understood, but residual versus contact or pre-emergent versus post-emergent are not. Most know about glyphosate, but are stunned when I explain that in the USA, we have glyphosate-tolerant corn.

Next Up, Weed Control

Weed control will be the next big focus for the group. In general, inadequate weed control rears its head as a wide-scale problem. A number of different factors play into this, but the basic problem lies in the lack of understanding of the importance of good control. Most villagers weed everything with a hoe. Some use an ox and plow as a cultivator between the rows.

One of the most striking observations I’ve made is that many believe that weeding (even with a hoe) will lose more soil moisture than letting the weeds grow. Many fields have a lot of tree stumps that shoot out new branches. These branches are valued, because the growers collect them, compost them and use them as a nutrient source for the next year. The fact the stumps are competing with the corn for fertility, sunlight and moisture is not an adequate concern. I hope to help our Zambian friends understand this.

So far, I have found so many locals are very sharp, are willing to change and will adapt to new things. However, I am perplexed about why more people have not adopted better farming practices. I am guessing it is partly a cultural bias that prioritizes tradition. I think it is also partly a symptom of poverty and the technology gap, and not being able learn from the internet and other distant places. Yet, I am becoming increasingly confident that we can achieve growers adopting improved ag practices. Hopefully, the rains will come soon.