Obert Chifamba: Senior reporter

The 2016 /17 rainy season is just a few days away – if forecasts by the Meteorological Department are anything to go by. This means farmers targeting to establish early crops should have already done land preparation and secured the seed for planting.It is important to note that the bulk of our farmers are in the communal or newly resettled, A1 areas and use cattle as draught power.

The biggest question at the moment is whether the cattle are in the right condition for the task especially in the aftermath of the El Nino induced drought that rocked most Southern African states last season.

Traditionally, these farmers harvest and store crop residue in the form of maize stalks for dry time survival feeding but given the poor or even non-existent yields most farmers experienced that may not have been possible this time around.

Of course some farmers may have managed to store some crop residue but the quantities may not be enough to make a reasonable impact.

And very often crop farmers panic when droughts strike and do not do anything to prepare for their livestock in the wake of the catastrophe.

The plant material of the failed crops is often overlooked as a ready source of animal feed. Even though the crop might be a failure, the green material may yield some significant tonnes per hectare.

If this material is harvested early enough and stored in plastic/polythene bags, it can be conserved as a type of silage, which has improved nutritional value and will be readily accepted by the animals.

The only challenge the farmers may face is in acquiring the bags but this problem can also be side-stepped by using pits similar to those used for the urea treatment of straws.

From an economical point of view, the farmers can use pits built with bricks covered with mud or even cow dung while from a cost/maintenance point of view, the pits built from bricks covered with mud or ones covered with cement, are ideal, as they can easily be built and maintained by farmers.

In most cases the crop residues are fed to draught oxen and cows used for milking.

This practise therefore ensures that the oxen are ready for the next ploughing season while there will also be an improvement or guaranteed supply of milk from the cows even at the peak of the dry season.

And since most farmers do mixed farming and produce a variety of crops while keeping several one or more classes of livestock, it should naturally click in their minds that all crop residues should be preserved for use during the most difficult time of the dry season.

Yes, supplementary feeding has always been option and some have used commercial or home-made licks to enhance the appetite of their livestock, especially cattle, before feeding them with maize stalks, but many cannot afford that luxury.

The costs of procuring and transporting commercial licks is generally prohibitive to the small-scale farmers so the option remains a dream silhouetted in the distant horizon.

But the cattle must survive by any means necessary if there is hope for a successful season.

I have seen farmers in Beitbridge district taking their cattle for relief grazing in commercial farms where there is more grass and vegetation and their cattle have always managed to pull through dry seasons in good health.

This is a practice farmers from any part of the country can also copy and do. There are always A2 or other commercial farmers with whom they can negotiate to have pastures for their cattle. But they also need to satisfy veterinary requirements on disease control and prevention so that they do not spread diseases.

Though this may not be a normal farming practise in communal areas, it has always yielded good results for those farmers that have adopted it. After all, it’s not people only that need relief food but cattle too.

In some cases farmers may need to introduce a system of rotational grazing, where certain portions of an area are rested during the growing season, and then utilised during the dry season.

This needs massive efforts, for it will take the co-operation of everybody in the area for it to succeed.

Some farmers are getting more business minded now even if they belong to the small-scale category and are planting drought and saline water tolerant feed and fodder bushes.

These plant materials can then be cut and fed, during the dry season, as a supplement to the animals.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey