Search Weight Loss Topics:




Apr 21

The evils of untreated seeds, and the curse – themastonline.com

Lose Weight Safely Comments Off on The evils of untreated seeds, and the curse – themastonline.com

Last week I received an email from a reader in USA who had read my book, A Guide to Agribusiness in Zambia: Untapped Opportunities. He commented that he found the book so useful and helpful. He was implementing a livelihood project in Rufunsa, and mentioned that it was so difficulty for him to find information, especially to do with agricultural statistics before reading this book. He hinted that after reading the book, he was able to find some helpful statistics in agriculture. He wanted to find out about the classification of a small-scale farmer from a commercial farmer. He was told by government officials that a small-scale farmer is one cultivating between zero to five hectares while in the book, I extended this segment of farmers to those cultivating up to fifty hectares. I will try to explain my rationale and understanding on the classification between small-scale and commercial farmers in my next article.

Mr Aaron from Chingola; you could have missed my second article on the need for treating your seed before planting. Your question related to why one should treat the seed when they can apply foliar pesticides to control the diseases or pests after germination? That was an excellent question and I am so elated that you asked. Allow me to explain this by giving an example in human health. Pneumonia is a very dangerous disease but it can be cured. However, it is deadly and can kill you if you have not been vaccinated. When a child is vaccinated against this disease, she or he might grow without catching the disease. What happens is that when the child is vaccinated, it is protected against that particular disease even when the child comes into contact with pneumonia causing organisms. Even when the child has pneumonia and he is treated, he will get sick and may lose weight after falling sick. With seed, the principle is the same. When seed is not treated with disease preventing products, it will be affected by that particular disease. Even when you spray against the disease later in the growing cycle of the plant, you would have lost over thirty to fifty per cent of the potential yield. The seed treatment products work on two fronts; they form a protective barrier around the plant roots for the contact pesticides and on the other hand, they will protect the plant system for the systemic products. We discussed in the other article that regardless of the land you plant the seed on, all soils have millions of spores that causes different fungal diseases. Some of these spores will only penetrate the plant through openings left by injuries of soil pests such as nematodes, cuts left by wireworms, cutworms and white grubs as they feed below the soil surface. On the other hand, some spores will germinate on the root system and form a web like material called hyphae which explores nutrients and causes disease on the plant. The spores that germinate and enters the plant system works like tapeworms; a child may not have a disease and will be eating but it will not grow healthy because the food it eats is being shared with tapeworms. That is what happens to the plant; it might look to be a health maize crop in your eye but inside itself, it is struggling to grow because it has been affected by Fusarium, rust or Powdery mildew. You will only come to notice this when it is too late and even if you apply foliar applied fungicides, you could have lost substantial amounts of yield on your crop.

Foliar applied fungicides should be a fire fighting strategy and you should not solely rely on it. When buying seed for planting, always demand for seed that has been treated with a fungicide and insecticide; this works like an insurance policy for your crop. It might look to be a bit expensive but ultimately, it pays. You and I know that farming is no longer a way of life but it is serious business which has made many farmers to be rich. If you want to learn a bit more about farming and agribusiness please get yourself a copy of our book specifically written for the Africa farmers in mind and Zambians in particular. The book is; A Guide to Agribusiness in Zambia: untapped opportunities (accessible at the link: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Agribusiness-Zambia-Untapped-Opportunities/dp/1796019127). Next week, I share my perspective of who a small-scale farmer is as well as who is a commercial farmer? Many times, some people cultivating thirty hectares of maize and yielding three tons per hectare thinks they are commercial farmers; no, not with my definition of commercial farming. On the other hand, some people think a farmer cultivating five hectares of tomatoes or onions are small-scale farmers. Stay safe, stay away from COVID-19 by getting a copy of this book, locking yourself indoors and catch up on agribusiness. When this virus is sorted out, you will have gained more knowledge on agribusiness.

(NB: the picture above is that of certified seed)

This author is an Agribusiness Development Consultant. ftembo2001@gmail.com

See more here:
The evils of untreated seeds, and the curse - themastonline.com

Related Posts

    Your Full Name

    Your Email

    Your Phone Number

    Select your age (30+ only)

    Select Your US State

    Program Choice

    Confirm over 30 years old

    Yes

    Confirm that you resident in USA

    Yes

    This is a Serious Inquiry

    Yes

    Message:



    matomo tracker