IPS growers embrace Polly-Pot farming technology

Tobacco farmers who are cultivating the crop under the Integrated Production System (IPS) with Alliance One Tobacco Malawi say the technology of transplanting tobacco seedlings using plastic tubes which is called Polly-potting is very effective as it achieves about 100 percent survival rate of the planted seedlings.

Speaking in random interviews, the contracted tobacco growers’ most of them from the Northern Region District of Mzizmba say the polly-potting based tobacco transplanting technology is far much better comparing to the old way of transplanting the crop straight from the nursery beds to the field as the former achieves higher yields since almost the entire planted tobacco seedlings survive.

One of the contracted tobacco growers Donnex Kaunga Nyirenda who hails from Tomasi Nyirenda village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mtwalo in Mzimba District said he embraced the polly-potting farming technology after realizing that it is giving him almost 100 percent survival rate of the planted tobacco seedlings.

“I started using the polly-potting transplanting method about three years ago and it is giving me and other fellow members of our Chikosera club positive results considering that almost all the transplanted tobacco seedlings do survive which result into high yields during harvesting period hence getting more kilograms which result into more profits,” said Kaunga Nyirenda.

According to Kaunga Nyirenda the polly-potting technology has enabled him to get more tobacco bales from his three hectare tobacco field, disclosing that during the last growing season he managed to get 148 bales of burley and 60 bales flue cured tobacco from his combined total production of contract and non contract cultivation.

“Since joining contract tobacco farming with Alliance One Tobacco in 2011, my family’s living standards have transformed both socially and economically as I have managed to buy two plots in Mzuzu city, constructed a decent four bedroom house as well as buying different livestock such as cattle, goats and pigs. In addition to that I also managed to buy two -tonner vehicle in 2016,” he disclosed.

Collaborating with Nyirenda, 45 year old Charles Moyo from Jairos Moyo village, in the same area of Traditional Authority (TA) Mtwalo, expressed optimism of realizing more profits this year as his tobacco which he also used the polly-potting transplanting technology has done well in his six hectare field.

According to Moyo, last year he managed to get a profit of K8 million despite a large portion of his tobacco field being affected by heavy rains which negatively affected his total yield. He is however optimistic that he will get more profits this selling season as his burley and flue cured tobacco has done well.

“Last year I got 89 bales of burley tobacco and over 60 bales of flue cured, however, I’m hoping to produce more kilograms this season because my tobacco has done well comparing to last growing season. It’s now four years since I embraced the polly-pot transplanting method in addition to other technical expertise which our leaf technician has been teaching us all these years which has enabled me to do better economically from my tobacco cultivation,” said Moyo.

So far Moyo’s enormous social-economic success and achievements during his 12 year journey of contract tobacco farming with Alliance One Tobacco Malawi, includes procurement of two vehicles, construction of two decent houses and owning livestock among many others.

He also commended the tobacco buying and processing company for promoting environmental conservation in his area, disclosing that every year, Alliance One Tobacco gives them wood which him and fellow contracted farmers use o cure their flue cured tobacco as well as tree seedlings which they plant in-order for them to have their own woodlots and live tobacco barns.

About, 22 kilometers away from Moyo’s village, fellow contracted grower, 45 year old Maria Tembo also commended the polly-potting farming technology saying it’s easy for her to do transplanting during dry season as the methodology needs less water to water the transplanted seedlings.

“Let me urge fellow contracted farmers including women to embrace this polly-potting transplanting methodology as it allow us to do dry planting but it also enables the farmer to get high yields since the transplanted crop has a high survival rate,” said Tembo.

Tembo also commended Alliance One for promoting crop diversification through provision of fertilizer and maize seed to its contracted growers; a development she said has improved food security at house hold level since most farmers have managed to grow maize in addition to tobacco.

In his remarks, Alliance One Tobacco Malawi Corporate Affairs Officer Ben Kawonga said his company in collaboration with Pyxus Agriculture Limited is encouraging its contracted tobacco farmers to adopt the polly-potting technology in their tobacco cultivation as it gives a farmer high yields due to the higher survival rate of the transplanted seedlings.

“It has proven that using polly-potting during tobacco transplanting enables a farmer to get high yields during harvesting period which eventually means that he or she can also get more profits and this is what we want our farmers to achieve. As a company we always advocate for good agriculture practices as well as the internationally recommended agriculture labour practices in tobacco farming, said Kawonga.

So far during this growing season, Alliance One Tobacco Malawi has around 9,000 contracted tobacco growers across the country.

 

 

 

 

 

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