SIMSIM PROPAGATION, PLANTING AND HUSBANDRY

Land preparation: Sesame seeds are very small in size; for this reason thorough seedbed preparations is desirable.; however a very fine tilth may not be ideal in areas where soil is liable to form capping under heavy rains thus hindering emergence of the seedlings. A smooth seedbed with a fine tilth is more likely to form a hard cap after heavy rains and prevent germination. .

Time of sowing: Planting must be done as early in the rains as possible. Eighty out of 10 experiments in Tanzania showed that late sowing lead to severe yield reduction

Planting [sowing] and spacing: There are two methods which are used to sow sesame (i) Broadcasting and (ii) drilling

(i) Broadcasting: Most farmers sow sesame by broadcasting the seed then incorporating it into the soil by hand hoe.

Advantages of this method:

i)The method is fast and hence time required to cover a  given area is shorter

ii)The method is easy: What is required is to try to spread the seeds as evenly as possible

ii)This method require little labour

The following disadvantages make the method less desirable

i)It is very difficult to sow  see evenly ,this method leads to uneven stand leaving wide empty spaces and areas with over population simultaneously

ii) Plants are difficult to weed because they grow at random and weeders cannot be used

iii) Other farm operations such as spraying becomes difficult because plants are grown at random

NB: If the broadcasting method is adopted farmers are advised to:-

a) Mix seed with sand, dry soil, ash or dried, sieved manure or compost will help to make seed distribution more uniform.  

b) Thin their crop about 2 weeks after seedling emergence

ii) Drilling: Drilling in rows about [45-50 cm] apart and thinned at a distance of [10-15 cm] between plants, after two weeks after germination

Advantages of the method:

i) Seeds are sown evenly over the field i.e. no empty spaces and areas with over population

ii) Weeding becomes easier [weeding is done along  rows and less plants can be damaged

iii)  Other farm operations such as spraying becomes easier to conduct because row planting facilitate the operation

The main disadvantages of this method are:

i)The small simsim seed does not land itself to this method easily and requires a specialized drills which must be expensive

ii) After drilling the seeds into rows, usually much labour is required to thin the seeds down to required to thin seeds down to required spacing within 2 weeks after germination

ii)      The drills needs skilled operators which must be trained and also payed by the farmers

Seed rate: In both methods, the seed should  be 3-5kg ha^- of good quality seed.  The optimum depth to sow is around 1.5 to 2.5 cm. It is important to sow at an even depth to ensure simultaneous and uniform growth of the crop.

Inter cropping: Sesame is often sown with other crops such as pigeon peas, maize or sorghum.

Crop husbandry

Weeding: Young sesame plants grow very slowly during the first 25 days, due to the small seed size, and are not yet strong enough to compete against weeds. Natural weed resistance sets in when growth rapidly accelerates, after the plants have attained a height of 10 cm. For this reason, the field should be kept as weed-free as possible during the first 20-25 days after seeding. This is usually achieved through 2-3 hand cultivation or by slashing weeds at soil surface as soon as practically possible, and hand weeding the rows of crops.

Fertilizers: Fertilizers trials in Mtwara,Lindi and Ruvuma  regions  have shown good responses to phosphorus and to increasing levels of nitrogen; however results of past experiments have not always  been consistent.