Agronomic Practices for Sesame Production Required for Proper Monitoring & Evaluation (M &E )

By Niyi Adegbaju

Here comes another growing season in which rain-fed producers have been longing for. In this article, we are going to discuss about the types of sesame grown in Nigeria and major agronomic practices involved in its production.

There are two types of Sesame (Sesanum indicum) based on usage:

      1.            White/raw, food-grade sesame used in the bakery industry, and

      2.            Brown/mixed, primarily oil-grade sesame.

PRE-SEASON ACTIVITIES:

I.                   Site Selection: Sandy loam soil in an upland plain (fairly flat and well drained).

II.                Seed Selection:

 i. Choose seeds of the same type and variety.

ii. Mixing different seed sources or varieties will result in uneven maturity and seed quality.

The table below shows the varieties of seeds, days to maturity, characteristics, oil content and their potential yield:

Sesame Variety		Days to Maturity	Characteristics of Seed				% Oil content	Potential yield (kg/ha)
			Colour		Size
NCRIBEN-01M	102-115			White	3	45			1000
NCRIBEN-02M	102-115			Light brown	3	45			750
NCRIBEN-03M	125-140			White	2	40			600
E8	90			Light brown	3.6	50			1000

III.             Seed Requirement: 3-5kg/ha in furrow sowing or 8kg/ha in broadcasting

IV.             Plant Spacing: 75 cm x 75 cm; 90 cm x 90 cm; 100 cm x 100 cm.

            A closer row spacing for irrigated or high rainfall areas and a wider spacing for dry areas.

V.        Field Preparation:

            - Clearing (slashing the weed manually or mechanically)

            - Ploughing(using the hoe, animal drawn plough or tractor drawn plough) and

            - Harrowing (to further turn and break the soil clods. Carry out one week after ploughing).

VI.       Sowing: sowing depth of 2.5cm

VII.     Fertilizer Requirement: Sesame requires:     30-60 kg Nitrogen,

                                                                                    10-15 kg Phosphate

                                                                                    10-15 kg Potash.

This requires 3 bags of NPK (15:15:15)/Ha (2 bags of fertilizer are broadcast during land preparation and harrowed in. 1 bag of fertilizer is side dressed during the first weeding, that is 4-5 weeks after sowing). It is also recommended to apply 5 tons of compost or farm manure during land preparation.

VIII. Water Requirements: Though sesame is a drought tolerant crop but grows well in areas with 16 - 18 inches of annual precipitation well distributed over the 3-4months growing period. Sesame needs water during the seedling and flowering stages.

 SEASON ACTIVITIES:

I.                   Seed Selection and Treatment:

i.        Sesame seeds for sowing should be sorted in order to eliminate immature, moldy, small seeds and unwanted foreign matters.

ii.      Seeds are then treated with an insecticide/fungicide mixture to control seedling blights caused by soil bacteria and fungi. The fungicide will control soil pests that damage seedlings.

iii.    Seeds must not be sown immediately after heavy rains since they imbibe too much water, which causes rotting. This also results in excessive soil compaction, which may hinder germination.

II.                Spacing:

·                     On a flat bed - 60 cm inter- rows and 10 cm intra- rows.

·                     On ridges - 75 cm inter- rows and 15 cm intra- rows can be adopted when sesame is             intercropped with another crop.

III.             Thinning:

When the plants attain height of 10-15 cm, remove the weak and diseased plants. It is important to achieve 22 to 25plants/meter in order to attain optimum yield. (This gives a plant population of 222,000 to 250,000plants/ha).

IV.             Weeding: Two types of weeding should be engaged for sesame production cycle:

Manual Weeding: Hand weeding at least twice (3 and 8 WAP)

Chemical weeding: Use of pre-emergence herbicide: Pendimentalin 3-4 liters/ha (e.g. Stomp)

Use of post-emergence herbicide: Glyphosate 3-4 liters/ha (e.g. Roundup, Sarosate, or       Fitscosate) (Note: It is advised that once chemical has been used at the on-set of farming season in clearing, it should not be used again in between the season to avoid killing the entire crop).

POST-SEASON  ACTIVITIES:

I.                   HARVESTING: Harvesting starts when 75% of the fruit capsules are ripened e.g. have turned   brown.

·                     the crop dries above where it will be cut,

·                     stems tend to change from green to yellow to red in color and

·                     the leaves will begin to fall off.

i.        Physiological maturity normally occurs 90 - 110 days after planting and normally dries down in 130 - 160 days, depending on variety and climatic condition. (Timely harvesting and stacking is very essential for quality harvest and decrease losses due to shattering in cases of labor limitations)

ii.      Harvest by cutting with sickle or knife when many leaves have dropped off, and most of the remaining ones have turned yellow and the lowest capsules on the stem are about to split open.

iii.    Make bundles and stacked upright for drying for one week after harvest or until sufficiently         dried, thresh (on tarpaulin or clean concrete floor) and winnow the seeds then bag for storage or       sale.

II.                STORAGE

Sesame seed is best stored unshelled, in dry conditions, protected from rain and vermin (particularly rats and mice). The seeds for storage must have 10 % moisture content:

·         Bagged seeds (whether shelled or unshelled) should not be placed directly on a concrete floor due to the risk of dampness that may cause mould to develop.

·         Before bagging, dust the pods with Actellic Super to protect them from storage pests.

Please find the summary in table below:

Key: -MBP= Month before planting, MAP=Month after plantingWBP= Week before planting, WAP=Week after planting, DOP=Days of planting, HAP=Hours after planting, DAS=Days after sowing

Activity/Operation	Timeline	Description of Activity
Land selection	3-2MBP	Select a land that has well-drained sandy-loamy soil for soybean farming. An ideal soil pH of 4.5 to 8.5
Seed selection and input procurement	2-1MBP	Select quality seed variety. This is based on maturity, yield potential, lodging, drought tolerance, and resistance to pests and diseases. Seeds and other inputs (fertilizer and herbicide) should be procured from reputable agro-dealers. Some recommended soybean varieties are TGX 1448-2E, TGX 1835-10E, TGX 1485-1D.
Land preparation	2WBP	Clearing and stumping: Clear theland without burningusing mechanical(tractor) or manual (hoe) method. Tillage: Till the soil by ploughing and harrowing. Thee helps to break, mix, soften, and make the soil medium fine and smooth.
Planting	W0	Planting date: Depending on the ecological zone, plant soybean early June – early July at Southern Guinea Savanna; mid-June – early July at Northern Guinea savanna–Sudan savanna Seed rate and spacing distance Sow seeds at spacing of 50 - 75cm between rows and 5-10cm within stand at2 -3 seeds per stand to ensure proper germination rate. Sow seeds that are not more than 12 months old. About 50–70 kg (20–28 standard mudus) are required to obtain apopulation of 444,444 plants/ha. Seed dressing:Treat seeds with fungicides, such as Captan, Apron Plus, or Thiram, at the rate of 1 sachet/8 kg of seeds before planting.
Weed management	2WAP& 5-6WAP	Manual weed control at 2WAP and 5-6WAP Note: One Chemical weeding may be required at 5-6WAP if herbicide is applied at planting. The following herbicides are recommended based on type of weed prevalence: Paraquat + Pendimethalin(50EC) 3 L of Paraquat + 3 L of Pendimethalin (250mL of each/20-Lsprayer) for grasses egRottboellia– apply within 2DOP; Paraquat +Dual Gold3 L of Paraquat + 2 L of Dual Gold(= 250 mL of Paraquat + 200mL of Dual Gold in 15-L sprayer (= 1½milk tins of Paraquat plus 3/4milk tins of Dual Gold - for most grasses and broadleaf weeds within 12HAP; Fusilade forte(Post emergence) 1–1½ L (150 mL(= 1 milk tin)/15-L sprayer- for grass weeds – apply 21-28DAS; Round-up or other Glyphosate products(Pre-emergence): 4 L (= 350 mL/15-Lsprayer), Used under no-tillagesystem, applied atleast 2 WBP also to controlperennial weeds
Fertilizer management	W0 (basal application)	Depends on soil fertility test. Phosphorus is often the most deficient nutrient and should be incorporated during land preparation as basal, Nitrogen and potassium fertilizers are needed only when there are obvious deficiencies. But the usual recommendations are: 20 kg/ha N; 20 kg/ha K2O; and 40 kg/ha P2O5 Materials needed: 2½ × 50 kg bags of NPK (15-15-15) plus 3 × 50 kg bags of SSP (SUPA)
Water management	3 to 7 days watering scheduling	Soybeans may require 1 to 2 inches of water every 3 to 7 days during the peak use periods. This depends on the type of soil. Coarse-textured soils (sands) have a much lowerwater-holding capacity than the finer-textured soils; soybeans on sandy soils require much more frequentirrigation.
Pest management	5 WAP (flowering stage) onwards	Bean Leaf beetles, Stem borers, Grasshoppers, Leafhoppers. It is more susceptible to whitefly attack at vegetative stage. From flowering onwards it becomes more attractive to, pod-sucking bugs that can seriously reduce seed quality- single spray of Cypermethrin + Dimethoate 10 EC at the rate of 100 mL in 15 L of water.
Disease management	Regularly Inspect field	Root and stem rot, Brown spot, pod and stem blight,Frogeye leafspot, Yellow mosaic disease caused by whitefly Control:  i. Plant resistant varieties. ii. Plant in a good seedbed. iii. Plant seeds treated with fungicides as mentioned earlier at seed dressing iv. Rotate crops with maize, sorghum or wheat to prevent the increase in inoculums level in a field.
Harvesting	3-4MAP	Soybean matures within 3–4 months after planting.Cut the mature plant at ground level when about 85% of the pods have turned brown for a non-shattering variety but 80% for shattering varieties.
Post-harvest &storage	1-2 weeks drying after harvest. For storage:Min: 6–12 months Max: 3-4 years	Stack them loosely on tarpaulin and allow them to dry in the open for 2 weeks before threshing.Store at a moisture content of 10% or less.Dry to 13% moisture for storage of 6–12 months and to 10–11% for longer storage. (A soybean seed is sufficiently dry when it cannot be dented with the teeth or fingernails.)