MAIZE PRODUCTION ADVICE FOR FARMERS AND POTENTIAL FARMERS

With Nokwanda Dlamini-Masuku

After the introduction of National Maize Corporation’s Farmer Development Officers, Banele Bennett and Charles Mdluli, our offices have been inundated with calls from potential interested farmers who would like to not only partake in the business of maize production but also to play their patriotic role in ensuring that the country achieves a status of being food secure by 2020 and having surplus produce for resale by 2022. The mission is to extend our grain trade beyond the Swaziland borders.

NMC appreciates the prompt response from the public on both experienced and complete farming novices as well as commercial agriculture based organisations who have all proven their desire in ensuring accelerated efforts towards achieving a food secure nation. The introduction of the Farmer Development Office at NMC was meant to provide technical assistance, amongst a host of other responsibilities, to farmers to ensure that they get optimum yields per given area, therefore, the office has been abuzz with activity with farmers and potential farmers from across the country all exhibiting great eagernessto play their part in improved maize production. Therefore, even though the farmer development officers are available to walk each farmer through their journey, we have put together the below pointers to help farmers ensure that they have started on the right footing.

Enjoy your read.

What to Do After We Have Planted Our Maize

Farming is a business. You should make a profit from your farming activities. The money we spend on inputs like seed, chemicals, fertilizers, electricity, water, labour and others should be kept less than the total value of the crop we produce. We farm for maximum production at minimum cost. We should do everything to a high standard. A high standard means good management, and precision to achieve maximum yields. We should not take shortcuts. They always make the journey the shortest journey much longer, says NMC’s CEO, Sabelo Msibi.

Now that we have planted and our maize have germinated, just like a new-born baby, we need to take care of the newly grown plant by providing it with all the necessary nutrients, weeding and controlling of pests and diseases.

Our Crop is Hungry

Our maize crop needs some nutrients from the soil and this can be provided by the fertilizers as supplements at varying rates depending on the type of soils we grow our crop. Between 28 and 35 days of plant development and beyond, maize requires a lot of nitrogenfor its vegetative development stage. A deficiency will result in lower yields because nitrogen is essential for the growth and reproduction of the plants.

Farmyard manure, green manures, compost and crop residues provide a valuable organic supplement to help improve the soil structure and nutrient content of the soil. Although a whole range of elements are essential for plant growth, limestone Ammonium Nitrate (LAN) is of major importance as fertiliser nutrients. This is because the other essential elements are generally required in smaller quantities and some elements are readily available in the soil.

We must make sure we top dress/side dress with LAN and this should be done after weeding and also check the weather forecast to avoid loss due to ground water run-off.

Our Crop is Thirsty

Soil moisture management is crucial at this stage. Too much and too little water will surely affect the crop yield tremendously. Maize requires about 400mm - 650mm per season and most of the water is used during tasselling and silking. Reduction of yield is experienced when there is moisture stress occurring between tasselling and silking. Irrigating during hot temperatures must be avoided but it is preferable toirrigate during the night to avoid stem rot and root burn.

Our Crop is Competing

Maize is generally a poor competitor against weeds. Weeds compete with a maize crop for light, nutrients and moisture which are all essential for optimum crop growth and yield. Thus, timely or early weed control is essential when growing maize in order to obtain optimum crop yields. Weeds also harbour insect pests and diseases and these can be avoided by timely weeding which deprives pests (insect pests and diseases) the opportunity to establish themselves.

In order to reduce weed population, it is essential to control weeds before they flower as weeds produce seed in large numbers and weed seeds can remain viable in the soil for a long time. A weed-free maize crop looks palatable and green whilst a weed infested maize crop looks very thin, yellowish and short. The latter either produces very small or no cobs at all, thus reducing the potential crop yield by more than 50%. Maize planted early during the first rains escape weed infestation and its negative effects. As a general rule, a farmer should not top-dress in a weed infested maize field as most of the nutrients will be consumed by the weeds.

Weed control methods include mechanical, chemical, cultural and biological control methods. Whilst the mechanical and chemical weed control methods are the most common, cultural and biological methods are among the most environmentally friendly methods. The integrated pest management approach is a combination of all the methods.

Chemical Weed Control

A broadspectrum herbicide should be used to target the seed of both broad leaves and grasses before any weeds occur. Careful consideration is required when selecting your herbicide;

  • Use herbicides that are only registered for maize.
  • Consider your rotation plan as some herbicides have residual effect on certain crops. This may be long or short term. Always refer to that product label for such information.

Should any further information be required, the NMC team is always available to assist farmers reach their maximum potential yield. Contact us for assistance or just contact us for feedback on our articles; we’d love to hear from you. Until then, have a productive week!