Feeding your crop properly

You can own all the machinery in the world, but if each planted seed does not receive adequate nutrition to ensure the highest possible yield, you’re on a hiding to nothing. Dr Benard Ngwene, agricultural advisory manager for AGCO Africa, explains how to achieve optimal nutrient levels.

Neglect to apply the required nutrient-providing fertiliser in any kind of crop production, and you will have weak growth and yield, as well as heightened susceptibility to pests and disease.

The following offers some pointers on how to ensure that your plants absorb enough minerals to thrive.

• Lay down the basics

For a good harvest, two categories of plant nutrients, namely macronutrients and micronutrients, are required. The former, which are needed in relatively large amounts, are further divided into primary and secondary groups based on their importance. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are the primary nutrients widely available in mineral fertiliser. The secondary macronutrients are magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and sulphur (S).

One of the reasons that smallholder farmers generally fail to achieve the yields obtained by commercial farmers is that they do not have access to optimal amounts of macronutrients.

NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS

Micronutrients are required in only small amounts, and are less likely to result in crops displaying deficiencies if they are unavailable in the soil. They include iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), boron (B), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and molybdenum (Mb).