Planting Maize in the second planting season 2024

 After acquiring prices for different items and services that we needed for the coming planting season 2024 as mentioned in the previous blog post about second planting season preparation, we accessed finance through our family savings account and went for purchases down town. There were surprises and discounts along the way. Nevertheless, we made our first batch of purchases for maize seeds, medium for soaking seeds and fertilizer required at planting of maize. Since we are setting up a forest garden farm, there are many things we had to put into consideration for the first batch to avoid wastages and to do experimental works with our boys back at the farm.

Cleared land consisting of holes for planting maize which already had
been marked for intercropping cassava, bananas and Robusta coffee

Maize Hybrid Seeds: We decided to buy white maize or corn seeds for making posho and maize porridge from Syova Seeds, formerly called East African seeds. We had preferred to purchase more seeds from NASECO seeds for Bazooka maize variety but unfortunately, they were not yet stocked until the following week. Our target was to plant on 29th July 2024 such that by weekend, one of us can return to the farm to determine the germination rate of the purchased maize and the quantity of seeds required for replanting and covering all the space. I got the price on Friday, 26th July 2024 to be 9,500 Ugandan shillings per kilograms making it 19,000Ugx [5.10 USD] for each 2Kg pack. I was surprised to be billed 20,000Ugx [5.37 USD] per 2 Kilograms in a pack for the quantity I bought. I went back to the help desk and asked them why the difference with the information I was given last week. I was then educated of the available discounts depending on quantities of seeds purchased. Anyways, I had to proceed with the order and we will sort it out during the family meeting. 

Sac of FERTISOL of 25 Kilograms, it is very handy if 
you are using public transport means, taxi and boda boda. 

Fertilizer at planting maize: It is a common practice for most farmers in Uganda to use NPK which is being put first in the hole, cover some few soil and then insert the maize seeds. Since at our farm we are working on soil conservation and minimizing the use of conventional agrochemicals, we preferred using organic based fertilizer, FERTISOL to serve the same purpose. It is in form of pellets, user friendly and adds more organic matter in the soil. It is imported from Netherlands. The only challenge with such fertilizers of the same category as FERTIPLUS is that they are not easily available and their prices are slightly high. They also need to go through Customs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) which causes a lot of delays. They are also under technologies to be adapted by farmers. Thus I recommend the use of Marula Proteen fertilizer if you have transport means and it is slightly cheap. Alternatively, you can get training on making compost manure and make your own fertilizers or use the local animal dropping manure if you have access at the time of planting. FERTISOL was between 75,000 Ugx [20.15 USD] to 85,000Ugx [22.84 USD] per sac depending on the quantities to be bought. 

Medium for soaking maize-Black off: It is always recommended to soak the maize seeds before planting them for about 12 hours preferably with a medium based on fertilizers. Some farmers use mix water with NPK and they add maize seeds; others use plain water without anything while others just plant without soaking. I recently learned that we can use Black off as an organic fertilizer and pesticide for soaking. They recommend 25ml for every 5liters of water. We purchased enough quantities which we will use when maize gets to 21 days. 

After making purchases with all noises downtown, we finally had our pack ready. We went to Shoprite near sawa ya Queen close to Old park where there is MTN and Airtel Customer service center. Syona Seeds is on the second level on the same building. After which we proceeded to Container Village before Faith Agro-Inputs outlet, you can see the post of Black Off then we got another boda boda (motorcyclist) to Kiseka for FERTISOL. And finally, we returned to City Square to board a taxi. Very exhausting if you are not used to be downtown! However, I was informed for my next purchases, i can make orders and they get delivered to my place of work by using one boda person who they work with. What a relief to know that!

one of the farm helpers planting soya beans
that remained in the last planting season

On reaching home, we opened the maize seed pack indoors hardly did we know that it consists of chemicals that can't be contained in a place with less aeration. We have been sending these seeds to the farm and the boys work on them then we plant together. This time we did the process ourselves and carried soaked seeds to them. Why? Some seeds kept on disappearing in the process of soaking. To reduce on these losses we did the mixing ourselves. Unfortunately, we almost lost a life instead. One of my children could not handle the scent from the maize seeds and we had to take everything outside the house. In the morning, after packing the seeds in the sac, I washed my hands very well with soap and served breakfast. I was not aware so I used hands to eat katogo of groundnuts with matooke. I was agitated all day with the chemical from the seeds, we had to get milk and all the anti-poison drug and drinks to stop the agitation. I took courage and we planted our first batch of maize. 

A mixture of seeds in one hole for plot under test 

As we were planting, I was also reminded of the batch of seeds that had remained in the first season. Of course, I knew but I wanted the boys to take initiative of accounting for what was given to them to keep. One of the boys suggested that we do a mixture of all seeds in one hole and see how they come out. We normally have a plot for doing tests, experiments and argument grounds. One of them thought that it was a weird idea, on voting the new idea got more votes and we planted in a small plot the following 2 to 3 seeds per hole per crop type: maize seeds, soya beans, ground nuts, cow peas and some with millet. Added their pelleted fertilizers of FERTISOL and covered with soil using a hoe. We had issues with spacing since we are intercropping coffee and cassava in young banana plants. We had to be careful to leave 1 meter from every plant of banana so as not to be affected by the oluyange (flower) of maize. In the process, the boys got bored of measuring and they requested us to let them do it their local way of planting randomly without measurements. It was a hard decision to take as they are the ones on the ground holding the hoes. I could tell that they were getting bored to follow 75cm between rows and 60cm between plants of maize. We changed to counting feet whereby 2.5feet between rows and 2feet between maize plant as the spacing. Later they convinced me that they will use their eyes to determine the spacing but they needed to meet their daily targets as planned. Making measurements was hindering their performance to meet the goal of planting 2 acres in the first batch as they proceed to other part of the land.  As the manager on the ground, I let them proceed with what they found easy to do since we could not provide technology of tools and machinery to do the measurements. This is also a challenge that most extension officers face with smallholder farmers when they train them to use good agricultural practices. Practicing the practice consistently is not easy especially for larger pieces of land. Farmers will always go back to their traditional way of doing things like their great grand fathers.

 After the planting, I returned home for further check-up as I was still under agitation. On my way back home, I kept of thinking, do we really want to continue using hybrid seeds to grow our home food for a healthy lifestyle or we rather start thinking of restoring local seed varieties which are health and do not consist of preservation chemicals? Are we ready to harvest less quantities compared to using hybrids? What percentage of chemical persists in the food after using the seeds that have been treated with a poisonous medium? Any ways, I may have gone on the extreme to think about all the effects of the usage of hybrid seeds. Nevertheless, I will visit the 30th National Agricultural Show in Jinja to learn more about the local crop seed varieties and their performance. Please share with me your opinions, what has been your experience of this second planting season in Uganda or in the country where you farm from? What is your opinion on hybrid seeds towards our health? Looking forward to sharing with your on the plant growth especially the testing plot which reflects Uganda's plate of food served in most restaurant and in most buffet.