Winchi Agribusiness Services Limited - WABS LTD

26/05/2026

🌱 Grow with WABS LTD 🌱

Premium Soursop Seedlings now available in Mazabuka – The Sweetest Town in Zambia 🇿🇲

✅ Healthy & strong seedlings
✅ Ideal for home gardens & commercial orchards
✅ Sweet, nutritious & high-value fruit
✅ Carefully nurtured for strong growth

💰 Price: K150 per plant
📞 Call/WhatsApp: +260 978 939 484

Plant today, harvest tomorrow! 🍃

20/05/2026

🌱 Protecting Bananas During Cold Weather & Frost Conditions

There is a lot of information shared online about Aphelion, but scientifically, aphelion itself does not directly cause extreme cold. However, during the dry winter months in Zambia (May–August), temperatures naturally become colder, especially early mornings, and this can stress banana plants significantly.

Bananas are tropical plants and are highly sensitive to:
✔ Cold stress
✔ Frost damage
✔ Water stress
✔ Nutritional stress
✔ Wind stress

When temperatures drop too low:
❌ Growth slows down
❌ Leaves burn or dry
❌ Fruit filling reduces
❌ Plants become weak
❌ Bunch quality declines

So what should banana farmers focus on?

🌿 KEY THINGS BANANA FARMERS SHOULD WATCH FOR

1. Cold Stress Symptoms

Watch for:
✔ Yellowing leaves
✔ Burnt leaf edges
✔ Slow growth
✔ Weak fruit filling
✔ Drooping leaves in mornings

This means the plant’s metabolic activity is slowing down.

🌿 HOW TO REDUCE COLD & FROST DAMAGE IN BANANAS

✔ 1. Heavy Mulching

Mulching is one of the most important protections.

Benefits:
✔ Conserves soil warmth
✔ Reduces root stress
✔ Maintains moisture
✔ Improves microbial activity

Use:
✔ Dry grass
✔ Maize stalks
✔ Banana leaves
✔ Compost materials

Keep mulch thick around the station but not touching the pseudostem directly.

✔ 2. Maintain Soil Moisture

Dry soils become colder faster.

Light irrigation or watering during cold months helps:
✔ Stabilize root temperatures
✔ Reduce stress
✔ Maintain plant activity

Never allow bananas to become drought stressed during winter.

✔ 3. Improve Nutrition

Weak plants suffer more from cold.

Cold-stressed bananas need:
✔ Balanced nutrition
✔ Potassium support
✔ Organic matter
✔ Micronutrients

Proper nutrition strengthens:
✔ Cell walls
✔ Root systems
✔ Disease resistance
✔ Recovery speed

This is where foliar nutrition programs like:
🌱 WABS Banana Blend
can help maintain plant vigor during stressful conditions.

✔ 4. Wind Protection

Cold winds increase stress.

Strong winds:
❌ Tear leaves
❌ Increase moisture loss
❌ Lower plant temperatures further

Use:
✔ Windbreak trees
✔ Natural barriers
✔ Proper orchard layout planning

✔ 5. Remove Excess Dry Leaves Carefully

Dead leaves trap pests and diseases.

But:
⚠ Do not over-deleaf during cold periods.

Leaves help:
✔ Photosynthesis
✔ Temperature regulation
✔ Plant recovery

Only remove severely damaged leaves.

✔ 6. Ensure Proper Drainage

Cold + waterlogged soils =
❌ Root suffocation
❌ Increased disease pressure
❌ Weak nutrient uptake

Good drainage protects root health during winter.

🌿 THE BIGGEST SECRET: REDUCE PLANT STRESS

Healthy bananas tolerate cold better than stressed bananas.

At WABS, we teach that:

> “Stress weakens productivity before symptoms appear.”

Which means prevention is always better than recovery.

A well-managed plantation with:
✔ Good nutrition
✔ Proper moisture
✔ Mulching
✔ Disease management
✔ Strong root systems

will survive winter far better than neglected orchards.

🌱 FINAL WABS PRINCIPLE

> “Cold weather does not destroy strong systems easily. Weak systems suffer first.”

This is why sustainable banana production depends on:
✔ Systems management
✔ Preventive management
✔ Consistency
✔ Observation
✔ Proper orchard stewardship

16/05/2026

16/05/2026

🌱🍌 HOW TO DESUCKER LIKE A PRO FOR ORCHARD EXPANSION 🍌🌱

When preparing banana suckers for orchard expansion, many farmers become excited after uprooting suckers with many roots attached.

However, one important principle must be understood:

> A banana sucker does not continue thriving efficiently on heavily disturbed roots.

At WABS LTD, after desuckering, we conduct a very important process known as:

✔ Root paring
✔ Leaf reduction

Why do we do this?

Because during uprooting:
✔ Many roots become damaged
✔ Water uptake becomes disrupted
✔ The plant experiences transplant stress

If excessive leaves and damaged roots are left intact:
❌ Leaves continue losing moisture rapidly
❌ Withering increases
❌ Establishment slows down
❌ Recovery becomes poor

This is why we:
✔ Pare down damaged roots
✔ Reduce excessive leaves

This helps to:
✔ Reduce transplant stress
✔ Minimize moisture loss
✔ Promote vigorous sprouting
✔ Encourage stronger establishment
✔ Improve survival rates

Remember:

> Successful orchard expansion is not just about uprooting suckers.
> It is about helping the plant recover and re-establish efficiently.

Professional establishment creates sustainable productivity 🌿

14/05/2026

🍌🌱 THE IMPORTANCE OF SCOUTING & MONITORING IN BANANA PRODUCTION

One of the most important but often overlooked practices in banana farming is regular scouting and monitoring of the plantation.

Involving experts once in a while helps identify:
✔ Early disease symptoms
✔ Nutritional deficiencies
✔ Pest damage
✔ Growth abnormalities and deformities
✔ Water or environmental stress indicators

Why is this important?

Because early detection allows:
✅ Faster corrective action
✅ Reduced spread of diseases
✅ Better plantation health
✅ Lower long-term losses
✅ Improved productivity and fruit quality

Many serious plantation problems become difficult and expensive to manage simply because they were detected too late.

At WABS LTD, we always emphasize:

> “Healthy plantations are built through continuous monitoring, not assumptions.”

Regular field inspections help protect:
🌿 Plant health
🍌 Yield potential
💧 Irrigation efficiency
🌱 Long-term productivity

Because prevention is always better than crisis management.

13/05/2026

🍌 BANANA CHOKING — A SIGN OF STRESS IN THE PLANTATION

Choking in bananas is not a disease on its own, but a physiological condition caused by various stress factors affecting normal plant development.

Some major causes include:
✔ Water stress
✔ Heat stress
✔ Cold stress
✔ Nutritional stress (one of the biggest contributors)

When the plant experiences severe stress during growth, normal bunch emergence becomes affected, leading to poor or abnormal bunch development.

This is why proper plantation management is critical:
🌱 Balanced nutrition
💧 Consistent moisture management
🌡 Environmental stress reduction
🌿 Healthy root development

At WABS LTD, we always emphasize:

> Healthy systems produce healthy plants.

Because preventing stress early is far better than correcting damage later.

13/05/2026

Shout out to our newest followers! Excited to have you onboard!

Nsofwa Kasembe Jr., Justin Michelo, Gift Mlatho, Enock Yabe, Paul Nyongani, Japhet Njolomba, Emmanuel Kalipi, Julinho Albino