Planting season
In the middle and Highveld areas of Zimbabwe, cotton is planted from November to December while in the lowveld the planting season stretches from October to November.
Cotton cultivation
Successful cultivation of cotton requires a long frost-free period, plenty of sunshine and moderate rainfall measuring between 600-1,200 mm.
Land can either be clayey or sandy but preferably warm during the planting season.
Cotton can also grow well in areas with less rainfall that have irrigation facilities.
Farmers without irrigation facilities should grow cotton under the dryland ode of farming.
Farmers should select rich and fairly heavy soils for cotton farming and application of starter fertilizer is recommended at the planting stage. Starter fertilizer helps reverse negative effects of cold or soil conditions that restrict root growth and minimise availability of nutrients required by the crop in the soil.
Land for the tobacco project should be prepared in a way that avoids water logging since this would result in the crop drying. Cotton farmers are urged to practice crop rotation with other crops such as peanut and soya bean as they help revitalise the soil.
Pests and weeds
Cotton growing is generally pesticide-intensive. Farmers should have chemicals handy to contain pests such as pink bollworm, the chilli thrips, the cotton seed bug, the tarnish plant bug and the armyworm, among others.
Chemicals such as herbicides, fertilizers and insecticides are therefore indispensible cotton growing components.
Farmers should be knowledgeable about the use of pesticides since incorrect use may be harmful. Some farmers have fallen ill as a result of a lack of adequate equipment and knowledge about how to handle pesticides properly.
Weed control
A cotton crop can fail completely if weeds are not adequately controlled. Farmers should employ effective weed control methods such as the application of herbicides. In Zimbabwe, popular herbicides such as Burndown, Paraquat and glyphosate are readily available.
After planting, farmers can apply pre-emergence herbicides on the soil surface. The type of the herbicides can be prescribed by specialists on demand. If need be, farmers may spray other herbicides over the top of cotton plants.
Organic cotton
To avoid expenses associated with the general cotton growing, farmers can adopt organic genetically modified cotton farming which may not require the use of agricultural chemicals such as fertilizer or pesticides.
GM cotton has an inborn natural insecticide, which is harmful to pests such as larvae of moths, butterflies, beetles and flies. Farmers are advised that some pests such as plant bugs, stink bugs and aphids are resistant to the GM insecticide and there will be need to apply pesticides.
Bollworm is effectively controlled by pesticides in the GM cotton.
Harvesting
Cotton picking in Zimbabwe and some regional countries remains manual, although mechanised equipment is used in isolated cases at well-established large scale commercial farms.
Most parts of Zimbabwe enjoy climatic conditions favourable for cotton farming.
Zimbabwe cotton farming is mainly on a small-scale. The crop is farmed in the western part of the country in Gokwe, Sanyati and in the northern areas such as Guruve, Muzarabani and Mt Darwin. Checheche also has cotton farms.
On a large scale, cotton is grown in Chinhoyi, Mazowe, Rafingora and Triangle.
Cotton growing continues to sustain livelihoods of farmers and generates foreign currency for Zimbabwe. – Nelson Sibanda
Post published in: Agriculture
Before harvesting the farmer should test the ripeness of the cabbage by squeezing it firmly. When ripe the cabbage head will be firm and not give in much to the applied pressure.