HEALTHY SOIL, CRITICAL FOR CROP PRODUCTION

By CHINTU MALAMBO 

CROP production is an important enterprise among small- holder farmers but yields have remained low because most farmers do not understand the dynamics of their soil.

Poor soil health, degraded soil and climate variabilities including unpredictable weather patterns are also contributing factors to the low productivity levels.

To this end, the Indaba Agriculture Research Institute -IAPRI with support from the Ministry of Agriculture and other partners like GIZ, the Food and Agricultural Organization-FAO, Solidaridad and the World Food Program among others has embarked on a soil awareness campaign, specifically for small-scale farmers, dubbed “Farmer know your soil”.

The campaign targets small-scale farmers in particular to know their soils before they select the type of crop to plant and the kind of fertilizer to use because of the adverse effects of climate change.

According to IAPRI Director of Research and Innovations, Anthony Chapota, good soil management practices improve soil health and fertility, leading to higher crop yields. Healthy soil is rich in nutrients, organic matter, and microorganisms, providing the ideal growing environment for crops.

Dr Chapota says the soil testing campaign will promote the use of latest technology, in soil testing at lowest cost and in a timely manner.it will also digitally deliver the best advisory solutions to each farmer based on the farm conditions.

Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture (iSDA) will provide technical support and digital tools  for soil care in real time soil testing in Zambia. The soil tests will be performed with a Soil Scanner.

The campaign which is being funded by the Swedish government  will be piloted in Monze district of Southern province and Kapiri Mposhi in Central province before it is rolled out the the other parts of the country. – NAIS.

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