Agriworld Farm Supplies

28/08/2026

Biodigester - A Valuable Asset for Smallholder Farmers

A small-scale biodigester turns kitchen scraps, garden waste, and animal manure into two usable outputs — cooking gas and liquid fertilizer — with no electricity, no moving parts, and no ongoing cost once built. The system runs on anaerobic fermentation, the same biological process that happens inside a cow's stomach or at the bottom of a swamp. Bacteria break down organic matter in an oxygen-free environment and produce methane gas as a by-product. Capture that gas in a sealed chamber, pipe it to a burner, and it cooks food. Collect the liquid that drains out the other end, dilute it, and it feeds your garden.

How It Works
Waste goes into a sealed underground tank
Bacteria break it down without oxygen
Gas rises and is piped to a stove
Liquid fertilizer drains out the other side
A small family system can provide 2–3 hours of cooking per day.

What You Can Put In

👉 Cow, pig, goat, chicken manure
👉 Fruit & vegetable scraps
👉 Cooked food (small amounts)
👉 Garden trimmings

Avoid:
✘ Large amounts of citrus, onion, garlic
✘ Large amounts of meat, bones, dairy

Fertilizer Output
Liquid “digestate” is nutrient-rich
Dilute 1 part digestate to 3 parts water
Use on vegetables, fruit trees, crops

Before You Build
Works best in warm climates
Below 60°F = slower gas production
Needs proper sizing (200–400 gallons for a family)
Install pressure relief valve + shutoff valve
Always place tank outdoors or underground

Bottom Line

One system.
Two outputs: fuel + fertilizer.
Lower propane costs. Less waste. Better soil.

15/08/2026

07/08/2026

GETTING STARTED WITH BANANAS

Farming bananas can be profitable, if production is planned and carried out carefully.

Bananas are generally planted in December. A soil analysis for lime and phosphate should be carried out in June and land preparation begins in September. Add kraal manure or compost if available. Fertilise the soil using four bags/ ha of Monoammonium phosphate (MAP) fertiliser. Add two bags of lime if the soil analysis shows that the pH is low.

Rip the land to loosen the soil at a deep level. Spray or disc if there are many weeds in the land. There are several methods of planting bananas, but tissue culture plants are best. These are grown from the tissue of the banana plant in bags, and come ready for planting.
Prepare for planting by digging holes in November. Space the rows 3m apart and the plants 1,5m apart in the row. The hole should be 30cm x 30cm and knee height in depth. The correct size for the banana plant hole. It should be roughly 50cm deep.

Add kraal manure and put some loose soil back into the holes. Do not add more than 10g of MAP to each hole.Plant in December. Remove the plastic bag and place the plant with soil around its roots in the hole. Do not damage the plant or dislodge the soil when removing the bag – use a knife rather than a hoe.

Allow 10cm between the plant and the soil surface. Fill the hole and compact it. Irrigate the plants after planting.
1. Fertilisation
Apply the first top dressing a month after planting, using two bags/ha (50g/ plant) of Limestone Ammonium Nitrate (LAN) fertiliser.
Apply the second top dressing in March, using two bags/ha (50g/ plant) of LAN fertiliser and four bags/ha (100g/ plant) of Potassium chloride (KCl).
Apply the third topdressing in May, using the same amount/ ha of KCI and LAN fertiliser. Do not apply top dressing in June, July and August. Top dress again in September (nine months after planting), using four bags/ha KCI and two bags/ha LAN, and again in November (11 months after planting), using the same amount/ha KCI and LAN.
Using the same amount once more, apply the last top dressing in January. Compost made from old vegetable leaves, chicken and kraal manure can supplement the fertiliser programme.

2. Desuckering
Use a knife to cut off the stems of suckers that have grown about 30cm long.
When planting on a slope, always leave the suckers on the uphill side.
Cut off all suckers on the north-western side of the banana plant. This is the side where the bunch hangs.
Five months after planting, select only one vigorous sucker to carry the next bunch. Remove the remaining suckers.
Continue removing unwanted suckers as they appear. To protect the bunches, keep no more than 2 080 plants/ha. For this reason, make sure there is only one sucker after harvesting.

3. Irrigation
Irrigate newly-planted tissue culture banana plants every day for two weeks (15 minutes per irrigation) to protect the leaves from heat stress.
In the absence of rain, irrigate frequently and lightly.
If the land has heavy, loamy soil, apply 20mm of water every three days in summer and every eight days in winter.

Banana basics
1. Controlling weeds and pests, and harvesting your crop.
Banana fruits develop in a large hanging cluster, made up of tiers (called ‘hands’), with up to 20 fruit to a tier. The hanging cluster is known as a bunch, and can comprise three to 20 tiers.
Once your banana plants are growing, cover the bunches with bags for protection against insects and wind. At the same time, remove lower-hanging yellow leaves. This will result in better quality bananas. Remove the lower leaves from the plant as they get old because they can spread diseases and scratch the bunches.
Use a knife to cut off the leaves – do not pull them. Place the leaves on the ground as mulch to increase the nutrient content of the soil. Banana plants usually need support when heavy with fruit; provide this by propping the bunches with a rope and sticks.

2. Controlling weeds
Use only recommended chemicals applied strictly according to the instructions on the label. Do not spray the banana plants or spray when it’s windy.
When using chemical control, such as glyphosate or paraquat, protect all parts of the banana plant from spray drift.
Use a hoe or your hands to kill weeds in the area near the plant to avoid chemical spray contact with the plants.

3. Pest and disease control
Thrips: Use chlorpyrifos pesticide once a month to kill thrips if they are present.
Nematodes: If these are present, kill them with Nemacur using 45kg/ ha (20g/plant). Compost, kraal manure and chicken manure applied in ample quantities will also suppress nematodes. Tissue culture plants are free of nematodes, which is one of the reasons that this is the preferred method of cultivation.
Black sigatoka: Plants with leaves damaged by the disease may have up to 50% lower fruit yield. Spray with Dithane and mineral oil. The latter enhances the pe*******on of the fungicide in the leaves and reduces leaching from rain. Ask your extension officer or chemical rep for advice. Finally, dip the banana hands into Benlate solution (5g/10l water) to prevent post-harvest decay.

4. Harvesting
Harvest bananas when they are swollen and green, but before they become ripe (plump and yellow). Do not harvest when the bananas are thin and dark green.
Harvest early in the morning when the sun is not too hot. Do not leave cut bunches lying in the sun. Get people to help you to cut the banana pseudo-stem halfway across and halfway down. Let the plant drop slowly and then remove the bunch by cutting the bunch stalk. Do not let the bunches fall to the ground.
Chop up the leaves and top part of the pseudo-stem and lay it on the soil as a mulch. Carry the bunches to the trailer and lay them next to each other; never place them on top of each other. In the packhouse, which should be built in a cool location, hang bunches, remove hands, cut into clusters, pack into cartons and store, preferably on the southern side of the building.

01/08/2026

Ascites in Chickens

In chickens it’s also called "water belly". It’s pretty common in fast-growing broilers and sometimes in layers.
Signs of ascites in chickens
1. Swollen, fluid-filled belly: Abdomen looks big, round, and feels squishy like a water balloon. Feathers may be wet around the vent
2. Breathing trouble: Panting, fast breathing, or breathing with mouth open. Fluid presses on lungs/air sacs
3. Lethargy: Stands with legs wide, wings out, doesn’t move much
4. Blue/purple comb and wattles: From poor oxygen
5. Reduced appetite + drinking more water
6. Sudden death: Especially in broilers, sometimes they just die with no warning

Common causes in chickens
1. Too-fast growth - broilers outgrow their heart/lungs
2. Poor ventilation / ammonia - bad air damages lungs and heart
3. Cold stress or sudden temperature swings
4. High altitude / low oxygen
5. Heart or liver problems
6. Salt toxicity or nutritional issues

Remedy / What you can do
Ascites can’t be cured at home, but you can manage and prevent more cases:

For the sick bird:
1. Separate it - keep it cool, calm, and with good ventilation
2. Vet option: A vet can sometimes drain the fluid with a needle to relieve pressure. But fluid usually comes back and it risks infection. Only a vet should do this.
3. Reduce salt in feed/water if that’s an issue

To prevent more cases in your flock:
1. Ventilation: Ammonia and stale air are huge triggers. Clean litter often, keep coop airy but draft-free
2. Control growth rate: For broilers, don’t push 24hr light + feed. Give a few hours of darkness so they don’t grow too fast
3. Temperature: Avoid cold snaps and heat stress. Keep it steady
4. Clean water: No excess salt. Test water if you can
5. Reduce stress: Crowding, handling, and disease all make it worse
6. Good nutrition: Balanced feed, not just high energy

Important: Ascites usually means heart/lung failure. Once a chicken has obvious water belly, recovery is rare. The goal is to keep the rest of the flock from getting it.

13/07/2026

WAYS YOU CAN MOTIVATE FARM EMPLOYEES 👨‍🌾

Good farm employees are hard to find, and even harder to keep. It seems that today, people just don't have the work ethic they used to. But you, as a farm manager/owner, have a role to play too.

Believe it or not, it’s easy to motivate people if you have the right plan.

Where does the strength of your farm business or agribusiness lie?

Your Capital or Intellectual sagacity? No!

Your motivation strategies for your farm employees is the strength of your farm enterprise. It is very possible you materialize the best feasibility plan but still have a poor yield or complete loss of revenue. It all depends on how you manage your farm workers.

The farm business is a unique business unlike other types of businesses, where there is a vertical relationship between the boss and the employees; farm business is not like that. Everyone is the boss in a farm business because everyone plays a significant role in the success of the farm business; everyone has to soil his or her hands.

In fact, because you are the boss should make you very humble and treat your farm workers as though they are kings, invariably they are.

If your farm employees do not willingly commit extra efforts towards the success of the farm enterprise, then you really need to check your managerial skill.

Being a farm worker calls for more attention; truth be told, there is no off-days in a farm business but everyone has to go home at the end of the long day to rest with their families.

However, when you motivate your farm workers well, he or she would always put your business, not you, first in his or her priority list.

Many farm owners or CEOs think the salary or wages they pay is the ultimate form of motivation their farm employees need from them. This is a very wrong assumption.

As a matter of fact, if a farm employee works for you based on the magnitude or value of the salary you pay, your farm would fold up in no time. Motivating farm employees is not about the cash but more of the kind.

Motivation Strategies for Farm Employees

👨‍🌾 Show Them What To Do

How often do you stay with your farm workers on the field and what is your intention for doing so?

Most of the farm owners visit their workers on the field to find faults on their assigned task. This is not good enough.

You need to create time to stay with your farm employees on the field, not because you want to supervise or to hunt their flaws but because you want them to see the spirit of workmanship in you.

They would love it, it would boost their morale and in turn, increase their efficiency.

👩‍🌾 Give incentives

How often do you visit your farm employee family?

The incentive does not necessary means money, although it is part of it. Give incentives in cash and kind.

Pay courtesy visits to your employee’s homes, relate with their family members, ask about the academic pursuits of their wards, offer a piece of advice and pray with them before living. The positive effects of this emotional incentive are unfathomable.

👨‍🌾 Don’t be a Bossy boss

You and I know what it takes to nurse a business right from the mind to its materialization, it is indeed a hard nut you’ve cracked.

But remember, it is no longer your business, you have called more hands, in form of employment, to help you materialize your dream. The truth is your employees never wanted you, you called for them and they responded you, hence, you have to respect their courage and sacrifice.

Truly you own the business but you earn from their sweat, effort, sacrifice and not your business in the real sense. They are the soul of your business.

I hope you know the importance of the soul in your body.

Always put yourself in their shoes in any decision you want to make; make their convenience your priority and watch how your business would flourish.

👩‍🌾 Be open when making a decision

At some points in your farm business, you make decisions in accordance with the production function or market information. Make this open.

Make suggestions and decide on the next action based on individual contribution. This practice is always absent in a farm system.

👨‍🌾 Mind your expression

You all know how boisterous we feel having a large farm. In a farm business, it does not work that way. You need to mind your expressions with your farm workers. Avoid using the following expressions:

What have you done today that makes you feel so tired? You have to finish this portion or task before going home today…
The bottom line is, do not be harsh with your farm workers. Try as much as possible to be compassionate and not authoritative.

In conclusion,

How do you feel now?

It is high time you reshuffled your managerial skill by adopting some of the aforementioned motivation strategies for your farm employees to make the working conditions favourable to your employees.

03/07/2026

PREVENTION OF WATERMELON FRUIT CRACKING

Fruit cracking in watermelon, like the one shown in the image, is a common challenge faced by many farmers, especially during the fruit-filling and ripening stages. This problem mostly occurs when the fruit absorbs water too quickly after experiencing a dry period, causing internal pressure that exceeds the strength of the rind. As a result, the fruit splits open, leading to loss of quality, reduced market value, and increased risk of rot or pest attack.

To prevent watermelon cracking, the first and most important practice is maintaining consistent irrigation. Instead of long dry spells followed by heavy watering, farmers should use controlled watering methods such as drip irrigation to supply moisture gradually. Mulching also helps by improving soil moisture retention and reducing temperature shock around the roots. In addition, proper fertilization—especially balanced calcium and potassium—strengthens the fruit rind and improves elasticity, making the fruit less likely to split.

Harvest timing also plays a role. Over-ripe watermelons are more prone to cracking, so monitoring maturity indicators such as drying tendril, ground spot color, and sound test is essential. With careful water management, balanced nutrition, and timely harvesting, farmers can greatly reduce fruit cracking and ensure high-quality, marketable watermelons.

27/06/2026

How to grow Sugarcane

Sugar Cane is easy to grow and it can act as a great privacy screen. It can be grown for chewing or juicing. The juice can be enjoyed fresh or boiled to turn to syrup. And it can be fed to your cows and goats as a great fodder.

To start growing your sugar cane, you‘ll need to source some sugar cane stocks.

Light: Grow your sugar cane where it receives full sun. Anything less than that and you risk the health of the plant.

Water: Sugar cane needs to remain moist to perform well. Water them regularly.

Soil: Plant your sugar cane in deep soil that drains well. The soil type should have a soil pH of 6.0–6.5. If you place mulch around the top of the plant, it will help it retain some of the moisture so that it doesn’t dry out too quickly.

Humidity: It’s not necessary for sugar cane to grow in a humid environment. It can handle drier climates as long as you consistently water it.

Temperature: Sugar cane does well in warm climate.

Pruning: If it’s a decorative plant, trim the sugar cane back with shears to match your aesthetics and to keep it from sagging. You may find that if you prune your sugar cane it will develop a ratoon, a new shoot growing out of the base. If it’s visually unappealing, you can prune it off as well. On the other hand, if your goal is to harvest the cane, you can let it grow and only prune the plant when there are dead leaves.

22/06/2026

🧪 Why You Should Avoid Mixing

Mixing chemicals in a knapsack sprayer is highly risky unless specifically stated on the product labels. Combining pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers without confirming compatibility can cause them to coagulate, clog your nozzles, destroy sprayer parts, or cause phytotoxicity (severe plant leaf burn and damage).

Here is why you should avoid mixing chemicals:

1. Reduced Effectiveness: Chemicals are formulated to target specific pests or weeds. Adding other products can alter the pH or chemical structure, rendering them useless.

2. Unintended Reactions: Certain chemicals react exothermically or endothermically, creating unknown substances that are harmful to your crops or the environment.