The long rains are a few days away. The farmers are awaiting eagerly for the rains so that they can do sowing (for those who have ploughed) and others to plough then sow. In central rift, farmers are waiting to plant maize, cabbages, Carrots, beans, Kales, peas, potatoes among other crops.

Many farmers are used to the conventional system where ploughing is done then sowing. Other methods have emerged which are worth exploring. Agriculture is dynamic and it is important to keep abreast with emerging farming and cropping trends. We will explore one such emerging system.

Minimum Tillage/Zero Tillage System

Crops are grown from year to year with zero or minimum soil disturbance through tillage in this system. In Minimum tillage, soil disturbance is kept to minimum level. In Zero tillage or No-Till system, no soil disturbance is done season in season out.

The Benefits

This system comes with many advantages;

1. Water retention- retains and increase the amount of water in the soil.
2. Organic Matter increase- Plant remains are left on the soil surface to rot and add to the organic matter content in the soil.
3. Cycling of nutrients- When the remains of the previous crops are left to rot and mix with soil, the nutrients they had accumulated is returned to the soil.
4. Reduce Soil erosion- The minimum or no soil disturbance strengthens soil structure which resist movement of soil by rain water.
5. Micro- Organism enhancement – The minimum soil disturbance ensures that the small organism in the soil thrive and multiply. Their activities of breakdown of materials in the soil is enhanced.
6. Saves money – The reduced activities means money is saved on fuel, man power and hire/use of machinery.
7. Faster Crop Maturity- the crops are planted immediately the rains are on which means they germinate and mature faster compared to systems where ploughing is done after the rains. More so because of the extra moisture the soil had.
8. Soil Evaporation reduction- The organic matter and plant remains cover the soil ensuring no loss of soil moisture. If the rains are insufficient, the crop will continue growing due to the extra moisture.
9. Easier Weeds control – after sowing, the weeds which germinate are easily controlled using a non-selective herbicide. After several years of the system, the soil cover increases reducing temperature in the soil. The weeds don’t grow except the planting line where soil will be exposed to the sun.
10. Improved soil fertility – the activities of minimum soil disturbances, improved organic matter and enhanced soil matter improved soil fertility. This results in better crops for improved productions.
11. Better profits- all the costs saved in the farm operations lower cost of production leading to increased profits.

Weed Control

Appropriate weed control chemicals must be applied for the system to be complete. Once the rains are on, holes are dug and sowing is done. A direct seeding planter is used in large farming units. Before the crops planted germinate, a non-selective products such as Catapult 480SL is applied to eliminate all weeds. Once the plants germinate, Control of broad leave weeds is done using Agromine in maize and wheat. Governor 580SE can be used at 3 leave stage of maize to control both grass and broad leave weeds in maize monocrops. Governor 580SE can also be used 2 days after sowing maize.

Conclusion

The benefits of using No-till or minimum tillage system are many. Every farmer desire to have improved production in their farming ventures. Soil fertility improvement in the soil, good healthy crops and nutrients rich soil will be a wonderful inclusion in the farm. It is advisable for all farmers to incorporate this farming system to derive the benefits towards a sustainable farming venture.