Onion Farming in Zambia: 2022 Update 5 (Jun 18): Urgently transplanting and rush to plant last crop

As our 2022 Onion programme continues, we find ourselves under a bit of pressure.
After getting poor results from our last onion nursery on Riverside 2D, we chose to direct-plant our next crop in late April. But we used the wrong wheel setting on our planter that released too many onion seeds on each bed.
We have now ended up with a many more onion plants on Westgate Block 2 than expected and need to transplant them out of there ASAP! This meant making new beds at Riverside 2 and 3 as well as extending Westgate Block 2.
While busy with that, we also had to quickly plant our last onion crop of the year because the planting window in Zambia closes soon. Onions need to be harvested before the rains come in late Oct/November, which is only four months away.
This has made us opt for F1 hybrid seeds, which are much more expensive than OPV seeds, but will grow much faster and be our of the ground in time. They will also give us onions that can be stored much longer than OPV varieties, and then sold during December-February, when our local onion supply is lowest and this prices highest.
The hybrid onion seeds featured are:
Starke Ayres Irati F1
(www.starkeayre...)
Syngenta Africa Red F1
(www.syngenta.c...)

[@sonofazania]

Watching these all the time now… oh Iv liked, subscribed and make sure to watch the advert too.. you are doing a fantastic job. Proud to watch a fellow country man farming with passion.

[@mondofarms4343]

Welcome aboard!

[@eyeandisinclair821]

Hey brother if you clip the roots of the seedlings before transplanting it will make the seedlings establish faster.

[@mondofarms4343]

Interesting suggestion. We may consider it.

[@monicamussasa8635]

You are so creative everything on point that's the way to go in farming🇿🇲.

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks 😊

[@TheMujiFuji]

I believe weighing your seed before and after seeding helps avoid this, but I’m nowhere near your scale. Thanks for showing real farming in the real world....excellent recovery from the mishap!!

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks. Farming is an ongoing learning process.

[@Lawrenco1000]

We keep learning from all those experiences so that we have no reasons not to do well. Keept it up Sir.

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks Ba Mwewa

[@ernestcsinyinza]

I would really love to see how you have set up your entire irrigation and water system.

[@mondofarms4343]

Yebbo

[@Mfzambia]

Inspirational content as always by Mondo Farms. Keep moving forward

[@mondofarms4343]

We will!

[@ernestcsinyinza]

This was very impressive germination percentage and very healthy crop.

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks

[@levisilungwe9080]

Beautiful

[@mondofarms4343]

Thank you

[@byronaaron3872]

Hie Sir thank you this informative broadcast, do you know about hazera onions what are the challenges associated with that variety

[@mondofarms4343]

Sorry, I don't know that variety.

[@TheLogisticGuy]

Nice work... But have few suggestions. Why don't you ploug with Chesel Plogh and then use Bed Shapper to make a parmanent raised bed? it will not only save the time but also reduces the water usage and also no need for this drip. We have been doing this for 2 years now. very very successful

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks for the suggestion.
We don't have our own tractor and attachments yet. Hopefully next year we can afford our own one.
So in the meantime, we have to hire from what is available in the local area, Chongwe District.
Which can be quite difficult sometimes. People let us down, their equipment breaks down, etc.
But when we get our own tractor, we can then start to get more specialized attachments like chisel ploughs, bed former, planters, boom sprayers, trailers, fertiliser spreaders, etc

[@mrsmarymcneil6533]

Hello good afternoon I'm your sister in UK

[@mondofarms4343]

Hello 😊

[@tendaidengende3440]

What are the steps of land preparation for direct planting for onions

[@mondofarms4343]

Hi there. I hope you have seen these questions covered in some of our other videos.
We featured our onion crop quite extensively over the many months it was in thw ground.

[@tendaidengende3440]

How do you make your beds

[@mondofarms4343]

Hi there. I hope you have seen these questions covered in some of our other videos.
We featured our onion crop quite extensively over the many months it was in thw ground.

[@JesusisLord78]

What are the hole spacing on your drips Sir?

[@mondofarms4343]

Most of our drip tapes have 40cm spacing. That are not ideal for all crops, but they are what we are able to get from a friendly supplier who gave us credit terms. So we just have to do with them.
Overall, they work for all of our crops.