A Guide to Conservation Agriculture in Zimbabwe - Canadian ...

Practical Steps in Conservation Agriculture
section THREE
Key Principle
Keep crop residues! Do not burn.
After harvesting prepare basins for planting, in the same
positions as last season. You will be able to re-use most
of the basins with only minor repairs.
Top dress with AN. Apply only one bottle cap of AN per every basin,
except where there are no germinated plants in the basin.
3.7 Harvesting and dry season
management
Between March and June harvest the crop. Timely
harvesting will prevent losses to birds. After removing
maize cobs, cut the plant at ground level. Leave the stems
and leaves lying in the field, to protect the soil. Leave the
roots in the soil, do not uproot them. This will improve
the soil. This disrupts the life cycle of the stalk borer larvae
so it cannot develop.
3.8 Frequently Asked Questions
For extension officers to promote conservation agriculture
effectively they must present the pros and cons of the
approach and be able to answer farmers’ questions. Below
are some common questions that farmers and others may
ask during training and demonstrations in conservation
agriculture.
Q: Is it not true that conservation agriculture is more labourintensive
than conventional farming
A: Conservation agriculture uses far less labour than
traditional hand-hoe systems. Planting basins can be
prepared over several months before the rains come. Also,
if basins are marked and made properly in the first year
of implementing conservation agriculture then in future
years they will need less labour because farmers can make
new holes directly over the top of the previous season’s
hole. Similarly with weeding, if winter weeding is done
before basin preparation, this will reduce the number of
weeds in the field and the amount of labour needed for
weeding later in the season, and again the effort is spread
over the year. By the third year of conservation agriculture,
the number of weeds will have decreased significantly so
weeding become less onerous. And the labour
requirement per tonne of maize also declines hugely due
to the higher production.
Keep crop residues to protect the soil.
Farming for the Future
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