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LEACHING COULD RESULT IN REDUCED YIELDS - SNAU

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MBABANE – While the country and the whole world are engulfed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year could see a decline in harvests. 

This is because the heavy rains that are being experienced by the country in the last three days has farmers worried about the escape of nutrients deep into the ground which may expose crops to vulnerability and result in reduced yields. 

This was revealed by Swaziland National Agriculture Union (SNAU) Executive Director Lwazi Mamba, making his submissions on the likely impact of Cyclone Eloise in the country to farmers and crops. 

Impact

In agriculture, leaching is the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil, due to rain and irrigation. Soil structure, crop planting, type and application rates of fertilisers, and other factors are taken into account to avoid excessive nutrient loss.

Mamba said it may be too early to measure the impact of the heavy rains experienced in the last three days to farmers. However, he stated that their main worry for now was the washing away of the nutrients in the soil due to the heavy rains.  “Many farmers are at the first phase of the ploughing season and this is the time where nutrients are invested into the soil to enable the crops to grow, but due to the heavy rains these days, the nutrients might be washed away or deep into the soil and the plants may be vulnerable. This could result in reduced yields yet they are a very important source of livelihood especially in the time of COVID-19, where many people have resorted to farming after job losses,” he said. 

Mamba said besides leaching, structures like poultry houses and pig sties could also have effects if there is poor drainage with a possibility of water making a stop at these structures which could result to loss of the livestock.  

Systems

“Farmers should ensure that their drainage systems in these structures are well prepared for such rains,” he added.  Mamba said the impact could not be as severe for farmers because there was little or no heavy wind or thunderstorm accompanying the cyclone as that could have resulted to severe damage of crops and vegetation.  He concluded by wishing farmers safety and improved yields this farming season as many farmers were relying to the harvests due to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Analysis

According to IPC acute food insecurity analysis, compared with 2019, the country’s food insecurity situation has deteriorated with a notable increase in the proportion of the populations in crisis. The number of people facing high acute food insecurity will likely increase to over 366 000 people (32 per cent of the total population) or even more in 2021. 

This is mainly due to low food stocks from the harvest and the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 on incomes and employment opportunities for rural and urban households. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the food insecurity situation, leading to an estimated 37 per cent of households with reduced income and 26.9 per cent with reported loss of employment. High prevalence of HIV and AIDS and its effects on the productivity of most rural households in the country continue to pose a great threat to a large proportion (26 per cent) of the rural population. Lower than normal rainfall, coupled with a high prevalence of disease, during the production season negatively affected food production and availability. 

The country has recorded a shortfall in maize production of 71.93 metric tons to meet the 162.32 metric tons domestic requirement for the staple crop. Planned import requirements amount to 61.7 metric tons, with an uncovered food gap of 10.22 metric tons. 

Availability

COVID-19 restrictions continue to disrupt food supply chains in the country, negatively impacting food availability.  Humanitarian assistance programmes have been initiated to provide cash and food relief to ease the COVID 19-induced food challenges. The greater impact of the pandemic weighs heavily on the rural poor due to the disruption of the informal sector – the mainstay of rural livelihood.

SNAU is a national non profit making company established in 2009. The overall objective of SNAU is to promote and safeguard the interests of all farmers in Eswatini by linking them with their stakeholders and facilitate production, access to land, water, markets, research and technology through such activities as bulk buying of inputs and selling of products, facilitating a favourable environment for farmers to sell their produce, facilitating capacity building initiatives in value addition to increase profit and advocating for appropriate agricultural land utilisation. 



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