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.
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