Chitedze

This team consists of cotton, sunflower, sesame, castor oil bean, sisal, kenaf and jute. The team operates from Makoka. The team carries out research on agronomic practices, pests and diseases and breeding on these crops.

Areas of research

(i) on-farm evaluation of new varieties of cotton,
(ii) evaluation of cultural practices on the production of cotton,
(iii) evaluation of various pest and disease management strategies on cotton
(iv) breeding and testing of new varieties of cotton for tolerance/resistance against pests and diseases.

Achievements

Released varieties
(i) Sunflower (Pan 7232, Super 430, Super 530, S0323 and local cultivars)
(ii) Sesame (Acc Mw 323, Acc Mw 431, Burkina 32-75, Sebu)
(iii) Cotton (A637, Makoka 72, Makoka 78, Rasam 17, Ezam 6, IRM 81, MARS 92).

Recommended practices
Time of planting and harvesting, ridge and plant spacing, pest and disease management (spraying regimes), and weeding frequency.