Lovemore Khomo | February 21, 2022
News Brief
Mrs. Nkhoma hails from Chiyanika village in Kasungu district, about 130 kilometres north of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. As soon as she arrives at her farm, she starts sowing groundnuts in the moist soil, using her hands to make planting holes. Mrs. Nkhoma says she finds making planting holes this way more effective because the germination percentage is always high, assuming that the seed is good quality. Mrs. Nkhoma measures the depth of the planting stations with one finger or with a stick. Her ideal is a hole between five and 10 centimetres deep, which is enough for a groundnut seed to grow. Another trick that Mrs. Nkhoma uses to increase productivity is planting two lines of groundnuts on each ridge. According to Mrs. Nkhoma, these small changes make a big difference. She says: “I feel empowered after I realized more profits from using these farming techniques. I am now able to pay school fees for my children. I have also bought two goats and a pig.”
It’s a Thursday morning and a mix of clouds and sun. Two days ago, it rained heavily, but the weather today is giving Enellesi Nkhoma hope that she can work longer on her farm without the rains disturbing her.
Mrs. Nkhoma hails from Chiyanika village in Kasungu district, about 130 kilometres north from Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi.
The 45-year-old mother carries groundnut seed to her farm. She walks carefully to avoid stepping in water-filled potholes on the dirt path that leads to her groundnut field.
As soon as she arrives at her farm, she starts sowing groundnuts in the moist soil, using her hands to make planting holes. She says: “I either use my hand or a stick to plant groundnuts so that my seed grows easily. Holes made using my hands always have a good depth, unlike those made using a hoe, which are too deep.”
Mrs. Nkhoma says she finds making planting holes this way more effective because the germination percentage is always high, assuming that the seed is good quality.
She says: “Using a hand or a stick when planting groundnuts helps to avoid suffocating the seeds, which causes them not to grow. Seed suffocation often happens when I have used other farming tools like hoes and dug a very deep planting station.”
Mrs. Nkhoma measures the depth of the planting stations with one finger or with a stick. Her ideal is a hole between five and 10 centimetres deep, which is enough for a groundnut seed to grow.
She started groundnut farming in 2018 on a small piece of land, but has expanded her farm to one acre to increase her yield. She says, “I own a very small piece of land, but I make sure that I follow good agricultural practices when planting groundnut seed so that I can harvest as much as possible.”
Another trick that Mrs. Nkhoma uses to increase productivity is planting two lines of groundnuts on each ridge. She explains: “On each ridge, I plant two lines of groundnuts five centimetres apart. I make sure that each ridge is 30 centimetres wide. This allows me to comfortably plant double lines of groundnuts on one ridge.”
Using these techniques, Mrs. Nkhoma harvested 30 50-pound bags of unshelled groundnuts last year. She sold 20 at 20,800 Malawi kwacha (US $26) and made 416,000 kwacha (US$512).
Fositina Namoni is a groundnut farmer from Mkwinda village, about 30 kilometres from Lilongwe city. She also uses a hand or a stick to plant groundnuts, and like Mrs. Nkhoma, this helps her groundnuts germinate more effectively.
Edith Kanyerere Chikoza is the extension worker in Kasungu district. She agrees that using a hand or a stick to plant groundnuts helps farmers achieve a higher germination rate. Mrs. Chikoza says, “The technique helps [farmers achieve] accuracy during planting in terms of distance between lines and planting stations, which is good for pod development in the soil.”
She adds: “I have trained many farmers in the technique of using a hand or a stick to plant groundnuts. In addition, I encourage them to use a double line planting technique to get more yield on a small piece of land.”
She adds: “Previously, farmers were harvesting less groundnuts, but now from a small piece of land, they get almost double the yield. I introduced these techniques to farmers in 2016 and more farmers are adopting the approach.”
According to Mrs. Nkhoma, these small changes make a big difference. She says: “I feel empowered after I realized more profits from using these farming techniques. I am now able to pay school fees for my children. I have also bought two goats and a pig.”
This resource was supported with the aid of a grant from The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) implementing the Green Innovation Centre project.
Photo: Groundnut harvesting at Chitedze Agriculture Research Station in Malawi on April 22, 2010. Credit: Swathi Sridharan for ICRISAT.