The National Union for Small Scale Farmers in Zambia – NUSFAZ has advised farmers who have already planted [and have no irrigation system] to replant their crops as soon as the Zambia Meteorological Department provides clearance.
The farmers union has noted that some farmers started planting at the onset of early rains, therefore chances are that they will have wasted their seed as well as the fertilizer that they had put together with their seed.
Union Executive Director Ebony Loloji explained that farmers should wait until the meteorological department guides that there would be enough rainfall, which will be consistent before they start replanting.
Loloji said replanting would enable the farmers to harvest something next year adding that farmers should replant medium or early maturing varieties so that the harvest is not affected since they will be planting later than they had anticipated.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Loloji noted that some farmers started planting at the onset of early rains therefore chances are that they will have wasted their seed as well as the fertilizer that they had put together with their seed.
It is not clear if affected farmers who are on Farmer Input Support Program which has a weather indexed insurance component will be compensated. Otherwise, most farmers capital positions are not strong to withstand this early loss.
“Already, we have been warned by the meteorological department that for the next 10 days, we are not going to receive meaningful rainfall, rainfall that is enough to put moisture into the soil which can support plant growth. That is the more reason that they have advised that if at all there is anything that they can plant, it is just cassava, not any other plant”, he said.
He emphasized that provided the farmers listen to the guidance of experts where going about a short season is concerned, the union believes that food security cannot be affected drastically by the dry spell that the country is currently experiencing.
Loloji has encouraged farmers to adopt methods of farming that will help them to conserve moisture noting that there is technology that can assist farmers in conserving moisture as well as focus on the use of early maturing hybrid.
He added that technology such as agro ecology where farmers work on things like conserving soil and moisture and the use of hybrid or seed varieties that mature early could help farmers get the desired harvest.
The met department is yet to give a longer term revised projection that can guide the farmers to plan their production. As things stand, fears are growing that climate change effects may lead to a drought which causes hunger and food insecurity for most citizens.
