A 'fair' Amount of Forage Seed Production

Farmers assessing cow pea variety at a Forage Seed Field Day held recently in Chirundu 

As the rain season hints at its near arrival, most farmers are stocking up their seed supplies. In enhancing appropriate seed choices, some farmers are privileged to attend seed fairs at which they are exposed to improved technologies and seed varieties, as well as recommended farming practices.

For farmers in dry areas, the decision on what to grow and which seed to use requires well researched decisions in order to ensure that a profitable yield is realized.

Seed fairs and field days continue to be popular platforms through which farmers can learn and share information on seed varieties that a best suited to different regions. Livestock farmers are not left out from such seed events.

The seven month dry season is a challenge when it comes to finding grazing ground for livestock. As such forage seed production is one effective avenue through which farmers can maintain the nutrition of their livestock when graze lands are reduced to the bare minimum.

The Golden Valley Agriculture Research Trust (GART) recently held a  seed fair in Chisamba under the theme  Technology Diversity in a Changing Environment which  reiterated the growing need for farmers to adjust their farming practices in a bid to ensure viable returns on their investments in an environment that changes not only physically but also economically.

In response to this need, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock through the Enhanced Smallholder Livestock Program (ESLIP) was part of the event at which they were showcasing how they are enhancing the knowledge and skills of farmers on forage seed production and utilization as one way of improving the quality of their livestock.

Miss Lungowe Situmbeko - a Forage Seed Development Specialist under ESLIP – explained that importing forage seed is a costly venture which would be unsustainable.

“Forage seed is not cheap, especially when we import it. So [if we have] farmers growing it, it brings down the price and makes it more available to small-scale farmers. That’s why we’re promoting forage seed production,” Miss Situmbeko said.

She added that the type of forage ESLIP was promoting and making accessible to farmers were leguminous such as velvet beans and cowpeas which are already in many local crop systems and hence easy for farmers to grow.

Furthermore, in collaboration with the School of Agriculture at the University of Zambia, ESLIP was enhancing seed accessibility by sourcing a supply of forage such as cow pea locally bred by UNZA, which they were then multiplying through selected forage seed farmers.

 “What we’re doing at the moment is that any district fisheries and livestock office that is participating in the program… has registered farmers and is still registering farmers to receive forage seed packs,” she added.

In this way, the cost of accessing various forage is made easier and affordable to smallholder livestock farmers.

However Miss Situmbeko noted that the challenge that still exists is forage utilization and this is another point through which ESLIP is intervening.

The Program recently held a forage seed field day in Chirundu district to demonstrate how various leguminous forage must be grown and how they can be utilized appropriately.

Ery Nguni was among the farmers who attended the field day with her some of her fellow cooperative members from Kapululira Multipurpose Cooperative.

She explained that as women, they wanted to learn more about the utilization of cow peas for both human and livestock nutrition.

“I have heard that chickens that are fed on a mixture of cow peas and maize are very healthy and grow well compared to chickens that are left to roam around…so I came here to learn about how to grow this cow peas,” Ery said.

She explained that the cooperative she was affiliated to, was involved in the growing of bananas, maize and; legumes such as groundnuts and beans. She said that the cooperatives wanted to diversify the crops they were growing in order to expand their market.

Ery disclosed that a major challenge that most farmers in Chirundu were faced with were pest infestations which were costly to control.

Ery Nguni(2nd left) with other members from Kapululira
Cooperative viewing a cow pea demo plot

“That’s why we want to learn about growing forage seed like cow peas so that we practice crop rotation as one way of having some relief from pest attacks,” she add.

Fortunately, the variety of cowpea that ESLIP was promoting was developed by UNZA’s Department of Crop Science particularly by a Ms. Nelly Nkhoma who is soon to be Dr. Nkhoma.

The development of the cowpea variety was part of her PhD studies which she is very soon to complete. She explained that the aridity of Chirundu was favorable to the crop which characteristically was susceptible to diseases when grown in high rainfall areas.

“I started breeding my line of cowpeas when I was doing my Masters of Science with UNZA…and when I started my PHD, I continued my work… I wanted to create more variation in terms of the cowpeas that would be beneficial to both humans and livestock...We’ve noticed that most of this cowpea goes to waste…if you ask round, most of the people don’t eat cow pea but we’ve just realized that livestock may benefit a lot from it,” Ms Nkhoma explained.

She added that the collaboration  between UNZA and ESLIP would enhance the multiplication of seed would help establish supplies of forage seed which livestock farmers could easily access in dry seasons. 

Livestock has the capacity to offer farmers higher returns than crop production however the quality of livestock is critical to ensuring good returns. As such the sustainability of productive livestock systems can thrive on the production and utilization of quality forage seed.