🌽 Maize farming in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's staple crop. Grown mostly rain-fed in summer, with irrigated winter maize in some areas.
- Season / planting window
- Plant with the first effective rains: mid-Nov to mid-Dec (early Nov in Regions I–II).
- Best regions
- Best in Natural Regions I, II and IIa. Use short-season varieties in Regions IV–V.
- Spacing / population
- 90 cm x 25 cm (1 plant/station) ≈ 44 000 plants/ha for dryland; 75 cm rows under irrigation.
- Expected yield
- 3–6 t/ha smallholder with good management; 8–12 t/ha commercial irrigated.
Stage by stage
Variety selection & seed
Aug – Oct
- Choose maturity to match rainfall: ultra-early/early (SC403, SC529) for Regions IV–V, medium/late (SC649, SC727) for Regions I–II.
- Buy certified seed only — retained hybrid seed loses 20–30% yield.
- Budget 25 kg seed per hectare.
Fertiliser and chemicals
- FertiliserCompound D (7:14:7) basal
200–300 kg/ha (smallholder), up to 400 kg/ha commercial · At planting, banded below seed
- FertiliserAmmonium Nitrate (34.5% N) top dressing
200–300 kg/ha split in two · Knee height + 2–3 weeks later
Field tip
Rotate maize with soyabean or groundnuts to break stalk borer and disease cycles and fix nitrogen.
The rest of this maize guide
- 6 more stages, from land preparation through to storage
- 9 more fertiliser, herbicide, pesticide and fungicide entries with rates
- All field tips, plus the printable and downloadable version
- Your own crop, cost and activity records in the FarmInvest app
Full farming cycle guides
Free and complete — land, equipment, crops, inputs and harvest.