Sesame Farming Benefits
BY Tanja Folnovic
VALUABLE CROP
Sesame is one of the oldest oilseed crop known to mankind for its seeds. The main reason for their popularity is that they have many health-promoting nutrients and elements. The world produces about 3 million tons of sesame seeds every year. Myanmar, India, China, Sudan, and Tanzania are the key producers accounting for 70% of the total production. The other major producing countries are Nigeria, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Chad and Uganda.
Sesame world belt farm production
Sesame is a warmer weather crop, which is mostly grown in tropical and subtropical areas up to an elevation of about 1200 meters. These conditions require specific plant performance which makes it capable of thriving despite the challenging environment.
Sesame farming in suitable conditions brings numerous benefits:
- Sesame is a versatile crop with unique attributes to fit almost any cropping system
- It achieves more profit when grown with limited resources and offers more return for less cost (less risk) than any other crop
- It doesn’t require additional farming equipment than that used for cereal farming
- It has excellent disease and insect tolerance
- Sesame in a crop rotation reduces nematodes in the soil
- Deep taproot may reach and utilize nutrients and moisture below the root zones of other crops
- Sesame adds beneficial residue within the whole soil profile, resulting in improved tillage and topsoil properties
- Excellent drought and heat tolerance – it thrives where other crops fail.
As a drought and heat tolerant crop, sesame has the ability to retain a relatively higher level of hydration under conditions of soil or/and atmospheric water stress. Factors enabling that are:
- Rapid phenological crop development
- Vigorous, deep, extensive and well-branched fibrous root system
- Narrowed hairy leaves with an ability to roll themselves, close stomata and secrete a waxy substance on the surface to reduce transpiration
- Osmotic adjustment to lower the osmotic potential
- High root/shoot ratio.
Although sesame is a drought-tolerant crop, it requires adequate moisture for germination at an early growth stage. The presence of excess water can also lower the yields. Moisture levels before planting and flowering impact yield the most.
Sesame plant in the field
Sesame may not be a magic crop that solves all of the production challenges for farmers. However, it may offer a viable alternative or profitable rotation crop for more traditional enterprises.
Tanja Folnovic
Agronomy Expert , Agrivi
Source: https://blog.agrivi.com/post/sesame-farming-benefits
RESOURCES
Sesame Farming in Africa: The little seeds with big potential
Sesame is popular amongst African farmers and is commonly referred to as the ‘survivor’ plant – it can resist drought where other crops fail and it doesn’t require much fertiliser making it less expensive to cultivate. It is this remarkable drought resistance, requiring 66 percent less water than grain sorghum and an impressive 75 percent less water than corn to cultivate, that makes it noteworthy of its tag as the ‘survivor plant’.
Sesame Production Manual for Small Scale Farmers in Somalia:
Compiled by: Riccardo Bubbolini, Dr. Diana Onyango and Emmanuel
Atamba
Sesame is an annual herbaceous crop grown for its oil-rich seeds. Sesame has been grown for the last over 2500 years. The crops ability to grow in adverse conditions such as dry weather and high temperatures has enabled its spread in many parts of the world. Apart from its leaves and seeds being eaten as food, Sesame crop has many uses. Its seeds contain Sesame Oil which is used for many things including but not limited to; Pharmaceutical industries in the manufacture of cosmetics such as Soap, Skin Creams, etc. It is also used in the pyrethrum industry for the manufacture of insecticides and human medicine to manage diarrhoea, cough, asthma, ulcers etc.
Growing Sesame (Complete Guide for Beginners)
Growing sesame of your own can be an excellent way of enjoying it if you like to have sesame in your dish. Growing sesame is very rewarding and it’s surprisingly fun! Commercial sesame cultivation is a very good business and you will make a good profit if you follow everything perfectly.
The sesame (Sesamum indicum) is actually a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum (also called benne). The plants are actually very beautiful with attractive dark-green leaves and have tubular flowers that can be of white or pale pink color. The mature plants can grow between 3 and 6 feet tall (depending on the variety).
Sesame Production and Weed Control:
The SUNUP team takes a broad look at sesame production in Oklahoma and zero in on the tough issue of weed control in sesame crops.
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