BRAC: FARMERS SHOULD PRACTICE CROP ROTATION IN ORDER TO INCREASE THEIR YIELDS

Vesper Kwavava, is small scale farmer from Ruaha Ward in Iringa

Municipality testifying to his fellow farmers how he benefited from crop rotation farming practice through the BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania LEAD project at the Farmer’s Field Day’ at Ruaha Ward in Iringa municipality, Iringa Region yesterday. (Photo; Friday Simbaya).

Farmers are at looking at the maize Sheller machine which is a means to support farmers so that they do not incur costs of hiring machines or labour too much manually at the Farmer’s Field Day’ at Ruaha Ward in Iringa municipality, Iringa Region yesterday. 

MEDIUM and Small-scale farmers have been urged to practice crop rotation because there a lot of benefits which comes along with this kind of farming, hence increased yields. 

Iringa Muncipal Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperative Officer (MAICO), Gerald Mwamuhimila told the farmers and agricultural stakeholders at the ‘Farmer’s Field Day’ yesterday at Ruaha Ward in Iringa municipality, Iringa Region. 

Mwamuhimila said, there’s a very good and scientific reason for farmers to plant different crops in a field from year to year. 

“It’s a process known as crop rotation, and it’s actually been around a long, long time,” he said. 

Crop rotation refers to the practice of growing different types of crops (or none at all) in the same area over a sequence of seasons. 

He said that rotating crops helps to improve soil stability by alternating between crops with deep roots and those with shallow roots. 

BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania's through the project of Livelihood Enhancement through Agricultural Development (LEAD) in conjunction with International Institute for Tropical Agricultural (IITA) through N2Africa organized Farmer’s Field Day; where they demonstrated how a rotation of maize and soybeans for farmers and agricultural stakeholders at Ruaha Demonstration Plot (Shamba Darasa). 

Farmer's Field Day provided field a rotation of maize and soybeans education to local farmers at Ruaha, Iringa, BRAC Tanzania's development through project Livelihood Enhancement through Agricultural Development (LEAD) in conjunction with International Institute for Tropical Agricultural Development (IITA) through N2africa organized day farmer in the field of the example of a rotation of corn and soybeans for farmers and agricultural stakeholders. 

According the assistant marketing manager; Lead Project, Samwel Kajiba, that day they invited farmers and stakeholders in agriculture as follows; agricultural, cooperative and marketing officer of the Ruaha Ward, 300 farmers, suppliers of agricultural inputs and livestock pesticides, businesses and NGOs. 

farmer field Day for maize and soybeans crop rotation a series of deliberate efforts of BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania in agreement with the losses suffered by farmers as a result of climate change in Iringa and other areas. 

Kajiba said that the project has enabled 8,250 farmers to form maize-growing and poultry groups in Iringa region. 

He said the aim of organizing the farmer’s field day was to show example of a rotation of maize and soybeans and also sharing and disseminating good agricultural practices, the technologies to farmers and other stakeholders. 

‘We demonstrated the ability to various systems of crop rotation and fertilizer and inoculants in Soybeans and UREA in maize alone,” Kajiba said. 

LEAD Project is working from 18 regions in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar alike have benefited from loans issued by BRAC, noting that many unprivileged households have managed to move from the poverty line. 

Vesper Kwavava, is small scale farmer from Ruaha Ward in Iringa Municipality who testified to his fellow farmers how benefited from the LEAD project. 

He said that the project gave him some agricultural inputs for free including seeds and fertilizer to plant at his one acre farm, and he is expecting to harvest up to 30 bags of maize this year. 

He said that before the project he was getting only eight to ten bags of maize per acre but with the crop rotation farming practice, he is able to harvest 30 bags of maize. 

On his part, Regional Agricultural Coordinator, Delowar Hossain said it’s wrong to planting the same crop in the same field season after season. 

He said there are several problems begin to creep up when you don’t rotate crops. All of these problems can lead to decreased yields over the course of several years. 

He said, First, the land itself can become “tired” and less fertile. This is because the same type of crop planted repeatedly in the same area keeps draining the land of the same nutrients needed for that plant’s growth. 

Second, certain pests can reach levels that are hard to control when they learn to make a home near a field that always has the same type of crop. 

And finally, land can be more susceptible to the forces of erosion if the same type of crop is planted repeatedly season after season. 

Crop rotation helps mitigate each of these effects. Different types of plants require different types of nutrients from the soil. 

“Changing crops routinely allows the land to remain fertile, since not all of the same nutrients are being used each season. For example, planting a legume, such as soybeans, helps to replenish necessary nitrogen in the soil,” said Hossain. 

BRAC started its work in Tanzania in 2006 by adapting and implementing its comprehensive development models reaching approximately 2.64 million people, with programs in microfinance, small enterprises development, education, agriculture, poultry and livestock and empowerment and livelihood for adolescents.

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Siku ya mkulima katika shamba la mfano la kilimo cha mzunguko wa mahindi na soya ruaha , Iringa, BRAC Maendeleo Tanzania kupitia mradi wa livelihood enchancement through agricultural development (LEAD) kwa kushirikiana nainternational institute for tropical agricultural development (IITA) kupitia N2africa waeandaa siku ya mkulima katika shamba la mfano la kilimo cha mzunguko wa mahindi na soya kwa wakulima na wadau mbalimbali wa kilimo.

Tumewaalika wakulima na wadau katika kilimo kama ifuatavyo; afisa kilimo, ushirika ma masoko, afisa kilimo wa kata ya ruaha, wakulima 300, wauzaji wa pembejeo za kilimo na mifugo, wafanyabiashara na NGOs.

Lengo la siku ya mkulima katika shamba la mfano la kilimo cha mzunguko wa mahindi na soya ni kushirikiana na kusambaza kanuni bora za kilimo cha mzungo, teknolojia iliyotumika na matokeo ya shamba la mfano kwa wakulima na wadau mbalimbali.

Siku ya mkulima katika shamba la mfano la kilimo cha mzunguko wa mahindi na kunde ni mfululizo wa jitihada za makusudi za shirika la BRAC Maendeleo Tz katika kukubaliana na hasara wanayopata wakulima kutokana na mabadiliko ya tabia nchi mkoani iringa na maeneo mengine.

Shirika la BRAC lilianzishwa mwaka 1972 nchini Bangladesh kama taasisi ndogo ya kutoa misaada, na baadaye kugeuka kuwa shirika kubwa la maenedeleo duniani likifanya shughuli zake katika nchin zipatazo 11 ikiwafikia watu zaidi ya milioni 135, asia, afrika na caribiani.

BRAC maendeleo Tanzania imekuwa imekuwa ikifanya kazi katika mikoa 18 ya Tanzania bara na Zanzibar ikiwa na matawi 120 na umasikini na kuinua kipato chao.

Kuonyesha uwezo mifumo mbalimbali ya kilimo cha mzunguko na mbolea za viwandani na inoculants katika soyana urea katika mahindi peke yake.