By: Caiphas Muyambo
Agriculture Expert
The 2023/24 season was not the best for farmers in South Africa due to the El Nino conditions that significantly reduced farmers’ yields. The total commercial maize grain produced in the 2023/24 season is 13.4 tons down from 16.4 tons in 2022/23. As we approach the summer crop production season, South African farmers must begin preparations for maize planting, taking into account the latest rainfall predictions and local conditions. Maize grain production plays a critical role in the country’s agriculture sector and the economy as a whole, so careful planning is essential to ensure a successful harvest. It is predicted that the 2024/25 summer season might be a good year in terms of rainfall.
Below are the 11 key steps to prepare for the upcoming maize planting season.
1. Review of Previous 2023/24 Planting Season
- Assess Yield and Performance: Start by evaluating the previous season’s yield and overall performance. Understanding what worked and what did not work will help in refining strategies for the upcoming season.
- Financial Review: Consider the financial outcomes of the previous season, including input costs and revenue returns, to plan for better financial management in the coming season. Careful financial planning ensures that farmers choose the most profitable farming enterprises, invest in the correct inputs, and target the best grain markets
2. Soil Preparation
- Soil Testing: Conduct soil tests to determine nutrient levels, pH, and organic matter content. Soil testing is so important that farmers should be advised not to plant if they do not know the health of their soils. A soil test can be compared to what doctors do, they take blood samples and test your current health conditions before prescribing any drugs. A soil test results show the health of the soils and such information is used to decide how much fertilizer is required to reach a certain yield target. Without soil tests, farmers blindly apply fertilizers and at times overapply leading to high input costs or underapplication leading to low yields.
- Land Preparation: Begin by clearing any debris and residues from the field. Plough and use a harrow to create a fine seedbed, which will facilitate good seed-to-soil contact. A well-prepared seedbed is important for germination, emergence, and good stand establishment.
- Soil Amendments: If pH is low, based on soil tests, apply lime to correct soil pH to 6.0-7.5 and consider adding organic matter to improve soil structure, and enhance moisture retention during dry spells. Soil acidity restricts root growth, reduces the uptake of nutrients, and inhibits maize growth and yield. Studies have shown a 4.8 times better nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) at a pH of 5.0 than pH 4.0 in sandy soils, and a 24.4% increase in NUE at pH 6.0 versus pH of 4.0 (Pan et al., 2020). According to an article by Kobus van Zyl of Omnia, plants may only be able to access less than 30% of nutrients at pH < 4.0, demonstrating inefficient use of nutrients by the plant in acidity conditions.
3. Seed Selection
- Choose the Right Variety: Selecting the appropriate maize variety is critical. Opt for varieties that have a yield potential and maturity period that aligns with the expected rainfall distribution in your area. Decide on genetically modified (GM) maize or non-GM maize depending on your management practices and market demands. The average yellow maize grain yield in the Northern Cape was 15.8 tons/ha in the 2023/24 production season (consistent with 2022/23 yield/ha) driven by irrigation. In the North West, yield dropped from 6 to 4 tons/ha possibly due to drought. Match your yield target with appropriate variety adapted to your region’s potential.
- Quality Assurance: Ensure that seeds are certified and sourced from reputable suppliers to guarantee good germination rates and crop health.
4. Fertilization Planning
- Customized Fertilization: Develop a fertilization plan tailored to the soil test results. From the planning phase, farmers should look at nutrient elements required to achieve a certain yield target rather than just the number of bags per hectare. This is because the quantity of nutrient elements (in kg of N, P, K, and microelements) in a bag of fertilizer varies. Ensure a balanced application of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) along with necessary micronutrients. With potentially erratic rainfall every year, precise fertilization will be key to optimizing nutrient uptake and grain yield.
- Application Timing: Plan the timing of fertilizer application carefully. Consider split applications to avoid nutrient losses due to leaching or volatilization. It is important to emphasize that nitrogen (N) is required to drive vegetative growth and grain yield and therefore a well-timed and correct application may yield better results.
5. Pest and Disease Management
- Early Monitoring: Begin early monitoring for pests and diseases, which may be exacerbated by unpredictable weather conditions. Regular scouting is crucial to catching pest and disease issues early. The presence of a pest in the field is not an automatic trigger for insecticide application. Only apply pesticides when the economic threshold (ET) is reached. An economic threshold is the level at which the pest population is likely to cause damage equal in value to the cost of controlling (pesticide and application costs) pest damage. This is also called the breakeven point. If pest control is not done at the breakeven point, pest damage may lead to significant yield losses. There are various ways to measure the economic threshold such as the number of plants damaged per meter, the number of pests per plant, the number of leaves infected, etc. The threshold level may vary depending on crops, crop growth stage, crop response to damage, crop economic value, pest type, etc. As discussed earlier on the importance of soil tests, pest monitoring to determine the economic threshold ensures that insecticides are not just applied unnecessarily. This also protects the environment from over-application of pesticides and ensures the profitable management of pesticides.
- Integrated Pest Management (IPM): Adopting an integrated pest management (IPM) approach that includes crop rotation, use of resistant varieties, and minimal pesticide application to manage pests sustainably is important. Habitat management such as trap cropping, intercropping, natural enemy refuges such as “beetle banks”, and floral resources for parasitoids and predators is also an important part of IPM.
6. Irrigation Planning
- Water Management: Given the mixed rainfall predictions, assess your water availability and irrigation needs. If you have irrigation systems in place, ensure they are fully operational and ready to compensate for any periods of low rainfall.
- Efficient Use: Plan for efficient irrigation practices, such as drip or sprinkler systems, to make the best use of available water resources. For maize production pivot and sprinkler systems are common. Use remote sensing technology to determine crop water demand and irrigate when it is necessary
7. Labor and Machinery Preparation
- Organize Labor: Plan for labour requirements well in advance. Ensure that workers are trained in best practices for crop cultivation.
- Machinery Maintenance: Service and repair all farming machinery to prevent breakdowns during critical planting and growing periods.
8. Planting Schedule
- Timing is Key: Align your planting schedule with the latest rainfall predictions. It’s crucial to plant when there is sufficient moisture in the soil to ensure good seed germination and early growth. Plan planting dates according to the maturity of the chosen cultivar. Understand the days to maturity and plant hiring of harvesting equipment. Also, the time of planting triggers all the in-season management activities. For example, maize planted on 1 October could flower 65 days from the date of planting. Farmers need to ensure that there is enough moisture in the soil during the flowering time as it is the most sensitive period to moisture stress.
- Optimal Density: Follow recommended planting densities to avoid overcrowding plants, which can lead to poor yields due to excessive plant-to-plant competition, especially if rainfall is lower than expected. Plant population density also depends on the cultivar choice. For maize, early-maturity varieties can be planted at high population densities. Some farmers plant more than 80,000 plants per ha. Medium-maturity varieties tend to do well under low to moderately high-plant populations.
9. Financial Planning
- Budgeting for Contingencies: Prepare a detailed budget that accounts for potential contingencies, such as the need for supplemental irrigation or additional pest control measures due to the expected weather variability. Your budgeting must also include various scenarios such as market price fluctuations, target yield reduction due to drought, and input price fluctuations. It is important to carry out a sensitivity analysis to identify key sources of variability and uncertainty and how the outputs may subsequently vary. This helps a farmer to make the best investment decisions.
- Securing Financing: Ensure you have secured the necessary financing or credit to cover all input costs and any unforeseen expenses that may arise. Various banking institutions offer investment loans and other institutions such as the Landbank offer blended financing schemes. Some input suppliers also offer credit facilities to qualifying businesses.
10. Community Engagement and Extension Services
- Leverage Resources: Engage with local agricultural extension officers and research institutions for the latest advice on crop production under the current climatic conditions. Private companies and input suppliers also have in-house technical support teams that farmers can contact for the latest information on crop production in various production zones.
- Farmer Networks: Participate in local farmer networks to share insights and strategies, especially in light of the upcoming season’s rainfall predictions. Tap into the knowledge of neighbouring farmers too.
11. Monitoring and Contingency Planning
- Weather Updates: Keep a close eye on updated weather forecasts throughout the season. Being aware of changes in rainfall predictions can help you adapt your crop management practices in real-time.
- Flexibility: Be prepared to adjust your plans as needed. Whether it’s modifying your irrigation schedule, changing planting dates, adjusting fertilizer applications, or changing pest management strategies, flexibility will be crucial to changing scenarios.
Conclusion
With the upcoming maize planting season, preparation is key! By carefully planning your crop production budgets on time, contacting soil tests on time, buying inputs on time, and considering the latest rainfall predictions, farmers can enhance their chances of a successful and profitable season. In farming timing is extremely important. Now when all the plans are in place, you are ready to plant and be sure that you record all your in-season crop management activities so that your experiences this season become a knowledge base for the next season.
Further reading
Pan, X., Baquy, MA., Guan, P. et al. (2020). Effect of soil acidification on the growth and nitrogen use efficiency of maize in Ultisols. J Soils Sediments 20, 1435–1445 (2020)
Tiwari, S. (2019). Habitat Management for Pest Management: Limitations and Prospects. Annals of the Entomological Society of America
