Division of Arable Research
The research activities of the Arable Research Division are organised into six programs namely Cereals (sorghum, maize, millets), Horticulture (Vegetables, Fruits), Soil, Water Management and Engineering (General Agronomy, Agricultural Mechanisation, Cropping Systems, Irrigation), Production Systems (On-Farm Testing and Economic Assessment of Improved Production Technologies), Oilseeds (Groundnuts, Sunflower, Soybean) and Legume (Cowpeas, Mungbeans, Jugobeans, etc).
Priority areas of research include selection and breeding for drought and heat stress tolerance, disease and pest resistance, intergrated pest management, promotion of infiltration and soil moisture storage through tillage, soil fertility management, weed control, small scale farm mechanization, assessment of agronomic potential of hitherto neglected crops such jugo beans and melons, conservation tillage techniques and cropping systems for enhanced resource utilization.
The Division has made a number of achievements which includes:
Recently released are three new sorghum varieties and one sorghum hybrid by the cereals program. The new varieties are Phofu, a white short statured variety with bold white grain and good milling qualities; Mahube, a red sorghum short statured variety with good malting qualities; Mmabaitse, a white sorghum variety with good milling qualities; and Botswana Sorghum Hybrid (BSH1), a white medium height sorghum hybrid with a high yield potential and good milling quality.
A new mungbean variety named Mmelegi was identified among entries from Asia and released. The variety is high yielding and matures much earlier (60 days) than the local mungbean variety (120 days). In research and on-farm testing trials, the variety has consistently out-yielded the local variety.
Successfully completed the testing of 22 Horse Power (16,5 KW), Daedong tractor for ploughing with a two row mouldboard plough developed by the Farm Machinery Development Unit by combining two VS12 ploughs. A mean plough depth of 19cm and a work rate of 4,6 hours/ha were achieved with the tractor at fuel consumption rate of 13,4 litre/hectare. Small 22 H.P. tractors have potential as sources of draught power for small scale farmers. However, the durability of these machines is yet to be established after several seasons of field testing.
The tri-wheeler, which was promoted by a locally based company was also tested but it could not generate enough traction to pull either a plough or a planter. Our conclusion therefore was that the machine should not be promoted as an alternative source of draught power for ploughing and planting.
Soil fertility, water and general crop management have been known to be a constraint in most of the small scale farmers. The focus of research has been reviewed to emphasise this particular aspect in order for the farmers to harness the potential of the improved varieties of crops.The Horticultural program successfully established fruit tree research orchards and the installation of associated irrigation infrastructures at Maun, Bobonong and Sebele. The program aims at assessing the adaptability and performance of a wide range of tropical and subtropical fruit trees including citrus, bananas, mangoes, grapes, guavas, peaches, apricots and nectarines.
The program also established sweet potato nurseries at Sebele, Maun and Bobonong to supply interested farmers with virus free sweet potato planting materials. Several sweet potato cultivars from International Potato Centre (CIP) and the local collection are being evaluated at the three sites for high yield and other desirable traits.
The Division of Arable Research has started the preparation of two extension Handbooks (Horticulture and Field Crops) that will put together the information from the Agrifacts and the latest research findings for use by extension personnel.
In addition to the above, three new groundnut varieties have been approved for release to the farmers, millet and cowpea varieties are in the final stages of on-farm testing and should be released soon once their yield potential and farmer acceptability have been confirmed.
It has been established that soil insects are mainly responsible for poor crop stands and that they can effectively be controlled by seed dressing with Gauch(R) (Imidaclorprid) which is recommended for all crops.
Sorghum lines with high levels of aphid resistance have been identified and this resistance is being utilized for the development of aphid resistance sorghum cultivars.