Sesame seeds have a lot of benefits both health wise and economically but yields in Africa are low due to broad casting. Raw planting and thinning can help increase on yields.
Broadcasting produces plants that are so close together hence grow poorly and also makes field operations like weeding difficult to make while raw planting and thinning gives enough space to the plants to grow resulting into higher yields. For a good sesame field, begin with quality seeds that germinates well. Plant the seed when harvest is expected to occur not in the wet season. Sesame matures in 3 months in planting.
Way to plant
Before planting, plough the soil to make it soft since sesame seeds are small and germinate well in soft soils. We can plant sesame lines on raised beds at a spacing of 80 cm between rows or on flat land at a spacing of 60 cm. This helps the plant to grow well and makes weeding and harvesting easier. When planting, leave 20 cm distance between holes.
To avoid putting too many seeds in one hole, mix one part of sesame seed with two parts of dry sand or bran but when using a planter, its better you mix the seeds with bran. During planting, dig shallow holes and put the seeds, then cover with little soil.
You can thin and gap fill at 1 week or do it together with first weeding at 3 weeks. When thinning, leave the 2 strongest plants per hole. Raw planting and thinning makes weeding, harvesting and binding sheaves easy.
