SFIP Progress Presentation | Mahlathini Development Foundation

SFIP: PROGRESS TO DATE

Optimising the system for non commercial and semi-commercial

smallholders

2015

Trial summaries -2 seasons; Matatiele and Bergville

Bergville

Matatiele

2014

2015

2014

2105

No of villages

No of trial participants

23 (61)

16 (63)

Area planted (trials)

13,1ha

42,6 ha

0,36ha

0,3ha

Average yield maize

3,74 t/ha

3,63 t/ha

0,95t/ha

0,7 t/ha

Min and max yield maize

4,3 t/ha

6,7 t/ha

0,25-

1,65 t/ha

0,34-

1,84 t/ha

Actual amount of maize pp

233kg

576kg

15kg

64kg

Rand replacement value

R 1 600,00

R 4 492,80

R102,75

499,20

Average yield beans

1,24t/ha

0,26t/ha

1,26t/ha

0,34t/ha

Trial summariesover 2 seasons; Matatieleand

Bergville

•Maize and bean yields somewhat lower in 2nd season-due to

adverse weather conditions

•CA trial plot yields consistently higher than control plot yields

1,24

0.26

2.25

2,06

3,74

3,63

1,14

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

Year 1

Year 2

Average yields for maize and beans in Bergville; 2013-

2015

Average of (Cowpea (1-1.2 t /ha), - Trial

plot

Average of Maize (4-10t/ha) - Trial plot

Average of Maize (4-10t/ha) - Control

Average of Yields: (Beans 1-2.5 t /ha), -

Trial plot

Yields comparison over 2 seasons in Bergville

•Continue with horizontal expansion into villages around

Bergville area.

•Training for local facilitators to support groups and increase

number of farmer volunteers

•Give attention to mechanization issues for larger farmers

•Start to implement the PES system

•Farmer centres for inputs, tools and advice

Recommendations

WHAT IS THE SMALLHOLDER

SYSTEM?

•Appropriate agricultural practices (technology and innovation)

Land preparation, planting, crop protection, rotations and crop systems

•Scale of farming operation

• Farmers’Organisation

•Services

•Monitoring and Evaluation

APPROPRIATE PRACTICES

Technology and innovation:

Land preparation

Planting and crop systems

Crop protection

Land preparation, planting and crop systems

•Pre-spray with post emergent

and contact herbicides (Round

Up and Gramoxone)

•Close spacing of tramlines

–50x50 maize

–25x10 beans

•One weeding is enough before

canopy cover is reached. Must

be early weeding: 2-3 weeks.

•Cover is reached from 4-5

weeks onwards.

Intercroppingand close spacing

PAN 6479 Dolichosintercrop

•Even stand of maize, earlymaturing and thus tasselingalreadyend January

•Dolichosprovides great cover and does not compete as may have been expected.

•Planted using hand hoesMrs SimephiNkosi-Emmaus Jan

2015

PAN 53 intercrop with PAN 148 or Ukulinga

•PAN 53 –medium season well adapted to Bergville conditions

•PAN 148: good cover less dense -

•Ukulinga: A bit more rust more semi determinate –more volume

Mrs SimephiNkosi-Emmaus Jan 2015

PAN 6479 and Cowpea intercrop

•As last year cowpeas

show visible positive

effect on size and

colour of maize in the

intercrop

•Very few farmer

participants opted to

grow cowpeas again as

they do not eat it. A few

people like the

cowpeas and know it

as fast cooking and

good for making soup.

Border King (OPV) with Ukulinga

•Border King more variable in stand and longer season than

the hybrids used, but yields about the same under difficult

weather conditions.

Mrs KeshiweCebekhuluEmmaus Jan 2015 –Left: PAN53 –Right :Border King

Border King (OPV) with Ukulinga

•Also small incidence of leaf diseases not noted in hybrids –

•Gray leafspot(Cercosporazeaemaydis) and Eyespot

(Kabariellazeae) noticed

GM Maize

•GM Round Up ready seed planted -50 m away

from other plantings and in an area of dense

planting of maize 500m-1km separation distance

not adhered to. Pollen likely to interfere with

traditional and more local varieties of seed kept

•Spray Round up before planting and around 6-

8weeks after planting

•Spacing 50cmx1m single crop.

•Soil is not covered. Further weeding and

spraying of herbicide is required –but facilitated

through Round Up ready seed.

Mrs SimephiNkosi-Emmaus Jan 2015

Crop protection

•CMR beetles very common also finding hosts in the grasses

close by. Spraying with DecisForte helps

•Stalk borer load much more severe this season; Especially in

early planted maize Stalk borer granules used as DecisForte

had little lasting effect

SCALE OF FARMING OPERATION

•Non commercialsmallholders, semi commercial smallholders and

commercial smallholders in loose value chains

•Issues of scale

•Appropriate interventions

Scale of farming operation

CATEGORY

Non commercial

smallholders

Semi commercial smallholders

Commercial smallholders in

loose value chains

% of

people

Farmer priorities

For household

Minimal inputs bought

For household and some selling which

supplements household income.

Minimal inputs bought

Consumption and sale in various

percentage mixes but moving to more

sales.

More inputs bought

Traction

Hand cultivation

Hand cultivation, animal traction

Animal traction, tractors

Land size

> 0.1ha

0.1

-1ha.

-2.5ha

Farm productivity,

labour

access

Inter cropping, micro

dosing with

fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides,

cover crop rotations

Inter cropping, micro

-dosing with

fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, cover

crop rotations

Inter cropping, micro

-dosing with

fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, cover

crop rotations

Access to improved

agricultural tech and

information

Hand planters,

Learning groups, working groups

Hand planters animal drawn

planters

Learning groups, working groups

Animal drawn planters, two row

planters

Learning groups, working groups

Access to financial

services and local

organisation

SCGs,

CIGs

SCGs, CIGs

Bulk

buying

SCGs, CIGs, formal loans and bank

accounts (group and individual

Bulk

buying

Issues of scale

•A plot of >1.5ha planted using hand hoes: late plantingof maize (Sahara) and bean

(PAN 148) mono-crop–after spraying withRoundup. –Mid December

•The women have battled to keep up with weeding and further herbicide may nowbe

required. (around R545)

Issues of scale; Appropriate interventions

FARMERS’ ORGANISATION

•Learning and working together

•Savings and Credit groups

•Commodity interest groups and Bulk buying

Learning and working together

•Learning workshops; practical and theoretical based on farmer Field

School approach

•Value chain orientation: Meetings to discuss issues of cooperation

and joint concern –Commodity interest groups –Bulk Buying

•Working groups; to ease labour, increase sizes of areas under

cultivation, share experiences

Saving and Credit Groups

•Through SaveActTrust

–Voluntary membership, buy shares every month,

small interest bearing loans from group to

individuals, yearly share out of lump sum

Amount of

AE Loans

R300

R500

R700

R1 000

R1 500

R2 000

Total

CIG Member

R300

R3 000

R1 500

R4 800

Non

Member

R500

R700

R2 000

R3 200

Total

R300

R500

R700

R3 000

R1 500

R2 000

R8 000

Total Agricultural Enterprise Loans in

Previous Cycle

–2013

R8 000

Total of Loans in Previous Cycle

2013

R51 850

# of People

CIG Member

Non-Member

Figure : Amount of Share out spent on

agricultural enterprises

Commodity interest groups and bulk buying

•Formed by participants in SCGs interested in

specific commodities to explore and work with

issues in the value chain

Not improved

52%

Income

improved

15%

Inputs

cheaper

Inputs easier

to access

No business

18%

No sales

No longer

sell on credit

Business improvement since

involvement in CIGS,Bergville

MaizeBulk buying 2013-2014 (N=14)

Amount in Rands No of people

R1-R200 3

R201-R500 3

R501-R1000 1

R1001-R2000 5

R2001-R3000 1

R4001-R5000 1

SERVICES

•Input supply systems

•Land preparation; ploughing

•Storage and marketing

Input supply systems

•Buy from local farmers

supply cooperatives in

Bergville and Winterton.

–Issues of timing;

smallholders not

prioritised

–Issues of transport;

delivery into smallholder

areas not that common

–Accounts; for

smallholders not yet

available

Needs negotiation and

setting up of systems that

are win-win for both

parties

Land preparation; ploughing

•Ploughing services provided by KZNDAE and

local contractors.

–Issues of timing; For KZNDAE long waiting lists –

not necessarily guaranteed

–Issues of cost; Local contractors tend to charge a

lot and are inflexible-do not do CA

–

Needs negotiation and setting up of systems that

accommodate smallholders

-Group ownership

-New models for contract ploughing

-Dedicated process by KZNDAE?

Storage and marketing

•Local storage not well

developed

–Household level:

–Group storage options

–At milling operations in

Bergville

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

•CA indicators and scoring

•VSA-Visual Soil Assessment

•PES-Payment for Ecosystem services

Local monitoring of visual indicators

•Indicators have been

chosen that can be

monitored visually and

throughout the growth

season of the crop. The

intention is twofold:

•To assess different

indicators for their reliability

,robustness, sensitivity to

change in management

practices and

•To design a system that can

be locally implemented by

facilitators and farmer.

•% soil cover at planting(From 0% -no

cover to 100% full cover); Cover of the

soil looking from above-can be crop

residue, weeds, mulch, grass etc)

•% crop canopy cover at 6-8 weeks

(From 0% -no cover to 100% full cover);

Cover of the soil looking from above-

crop cover/ canopy) –a new indicator

•% Weed infestation(0%-very high

weed incidence, complete yieldloss; to

100%-no weeds zero yieldloss)

•% Pest occurrence(0%-veryhigh

infestation , complete yieldloss, to

100%-no insect pests and zero yield

loss)

•% growth; (germination, colour, height,

health)

•% growth of cover crop (from 0% –not

planted or not germinated to 100% full

germination and excellent growth) –A

new indicator that has beenincluded

this year, but not yet added to the overall

score for each participant

Values

Row Labels

Runoff

Average of

Cover

crops

Average of

%Cover

(at

planting)

Average of %

Weeds (0%)

–high weed

infestation –

to (100%) no

weeds,

Average

of % pests

(0%) bad-

(100%)

–

Average of %

growth

(germination,

colour,

height,

health)

Average of

Overall

score (10)

Lelatso Thuso

70%

10%

75%

85%

30%

Bulelwa Dzingwa

10%

15%

75%

85%

65%

Mahutlong Dodo

10%

65%

90%

70%

5,9

Majaokbo Sabasaba

15%

90%

20%

3,3

Mamolelekeng Lebuoea

100%

10%

90%

80%

6,5

Manapo Moshoeshoe

55%

80%

60%

Manyalleng Sikhosana

70%

10%

70%

85%

70%

5,9

Matshepo Futhu

60%

10%

55%

85%

65%

5,4

Mohajane Kanetsi

10%

15%

80%

75%

4,5

Mongezi Bhekaphezulu

40%

80%

55%

4,6

Nkosiyamankwali

Maqungo

25%

80%

40%

Nokuphiwa Phekula

10%

90%

35%

3,5

Nthabiseng Moshoeshoe

10%

35%

80%

65%

4,8

Siyabonga Maqungo

10%

80%

10%

2,6

Thabiso Dihollo

13%

45%

78%

75%

Tsolonae Mapheele

55%

15%

63%

85%

58%

5,5

Grand Total

21%

10%

45%

83%

54%

4,8

CA Scores for Matatiele; 2015

•Control plot scores are

lower on average than the

trial plots

•Trial plot scores for the

2nd year are higher than for

the 1st year. This is

expected due to better

management of trials by

participant farmers as they

get used to the process and

are able to improve

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

CAscores for control and trial plots;

Stulwane 2 seasons

Control - Year 1

Control - Year 2

Trial plot - Year 1

Trial plot - Year 2

Acomparison of scores over 2 seasons for Stulwane;

Bergville

Visual indicator of SoilQualityVisual Score (VS)

0 =Poor conditions

1 =Moderate conditions

2 =Good conditions

Weighing VS Ranking

Soil Structure3

Soil porosity3

Soil colour2

Number and colour of soil mottles1

Earthworm counts2

Soil cover at planting 2

Crop cover at 6-8 weeks2

Soil depth2

Run-off 2

Ranking Score (sum of VS rankings) Max =38

VSA; Visual soil assessment

Crop emergence (% germination)3

Crop growth and height(%;

overall

growth and colour-

relative

height at time of assessment)

3

Weed infestation2

Crop yield3

Size and development of

root

system



Surfaceponding /water infiltration



Production costs



Ranking Score (sum of VS rankings) Max =22

CA monitoring

scores

VSA

Soil scores

VSA

plant scores

Yields

Above

average ≥7 >28 >15

-8.9 tons/ha

Average

5-6.9 11-28 7-15

-2.9tons/ha

Below

average 3-4.9<11 <7

≤

1ton/ha

Combination of yields, CA scores and VSA

6.5

7.625

8.625

7.96

8.125

4.75

8.25

7.875

5.45

7.95

8.625

05 10 15 20 25 30 35

2,7

3,6

4,8

6,7

5,7

2,2

3,9

5,1

1,8

Year

2Year

Bang

eni

Dlami

Cazil

Zimb

Cupil

Buthe

lezi

Dleza

khe

Hlong

wane

Khule

kani

Dladl

Landil

Nsele

Maket

Dladl

Mthol

eni

Dlami

Phas

azile

Sithe

Thulis

lie

Hlong

wane

Zama

Dladl

Trial plot - Sum of Overall

score (10)

Trial plot - Sum of VSA Scores

soil

Trial plot - Sum of VSA scores

plant

THANK YOU