Truemorsone of the many maize fields we have seen on the trip through the rural areas of the Northern Province. The usual crop is very poor. Soil is acid ph 4.7 and leached by heavy rains and poor cultivation methods.
maize field
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NP! ID: 2071348
Title: maize field
File Size: 1024 × 569 – 424.71 KB
Created: Fri, 01/16/2009 - 1:17am
Modified: Fri, 01/16/2009 - 1:17am
File Type: image (jpeg)
Licence: None (All rights reserved)
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at 01:36 on January 16th, 2009
This photo was taken in 2007 in the Kayambi area, the Northern Province of Zambia. It is a field with young maize. Even at this early stage we found stalk borers on a lot of plants. Small scale farmers are still using the Chitimene system, which is basically slash and burn method. This method is creating erosions and the fertilizers applied are wasted. The soil remaining is leached and acidic. Next time around the same farmer may apply even more fertilizer to get a better crop. Many farmers are not taking on the recommendations of the agricultural officers. The use of green manure has not been taken seriously enough. Crops could be atleast doubled by using different forms of cultivation and better pest control. Birds and other small animals are still getting killed (not always only for eating). This means the natural pest control is taken out of the food chain. The chain is getting smaller and more vulnerable with each season.