Pfumvudza: catch every drop with planting basins

In a country of erratic rains, the farmers who win are the ones who catch and hold the water that does fall. That’s the whole idea behind Pfumvudza — and you don’t need a big field to make it work.

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What Pfumvudza is

Pfumvudza is Zimbabwe’s conservation-agriculture model for small, intensively-managed plots. Its core practices (FAO):

• Planting basins instead of ploughing the whole field — minimum soil disturbance, dug in the dry season.
• Permanent mulch cover over the soil.
• Precise inputs — the right seed and nutrients placed exactly in the basin, nothing wasted.
• Timely management — done early and done well.

Together these catch rainfall in the basin and hold it, instead of letting it run off bare, capped soil.

Does it work?

Yes — when it’s done properly. FAO-supported pilots reported some farmers reaching as much as 7.8 tonnes of maize per hectare, a huge jump over conventional methods, under strict adherence and good management (FAO; The Herald). Your results depend on discipline — the method rewards getting every step right.

Make your basins even better

The basin catches the water; what’s in the basin decides how much the soil holds and how well the crop grows. Two upgrades:

• Put organic matter in the basin. Working PCAT BLOCK C (or your own home compost) into each basin builds the moisture-holding, living soil that makes the captured rain last through dry spells.
• Mulch heavily over and between basins to stop the caught water evaporating (see mulching).

Do this now

1. Dig your basins in the dry season, on the grid.
2. Add compost to each basin to hold moisture.
3. Mulch the whole plot.
4. Be precise and timely — the method rewards discipline.

PCAT BLOCK C — the locally-made, field-proven compost that rebuilds Zimbabwe’s tired, acidic soils.

Related: mulching to beat the dry spells · why your soil is probably acidic