GOVERNMENT has rallied farmers to scale up the adoption of climate-proofed agriculture approaches such as the Intwasa/Pfumvudza model, the use of early maturing seed varieties and small grains, especially in the drought-prone southern region to guarantee adequate food production amid projections of normal to below normal rains.
These will be complemented by irrigation farming in selected zones, which will ensure the country averts potential food shortages while cutting down imports by producing enough food for its citizens as well as meeting business requirements.
As preparations for the 2023/24 summer cropping season get rolling, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka, has said conservative farming such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa is the answer to producing enough food at household level.
Working closely with private sector partners, he said the Government has come up with a number of measures to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change in the sector, which will deliver good yields to meet national requirements.
The Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has predicted that the country will receive normal to below-normal rainfall this season with the bulk of Matabeleland and Midlands provinces being the most affected.
Zimbabwe enjoys food security after it increased its output in the last three seasons and now looks forward to consolidating the gains achieved so far in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS1), and Vision 2030 targets.
In an interview on the sidelines of the 25th graduation and prize-giving ceremony at Esigodini Agricultural College in Umzingwane District, Matabeleland South on Friday where 76 students graduated with certificates, Dr Masuka said farmers must embrace climate-proofed agriculture at all levels to boost yields and increase the sector’s contribution to national economy.
“The greater part of this season is predicted to have normal to below normal rainfall. So, we said we must consolidate climate-proofing activities at two levels,” he said.
“First, at the household level, we must ensure that all the tenets of sustainable conservation Pfumvudza/Intwasa are adhered to and that each household has done a minimum of three plots by 31 October this year, mulching and organic placement,” said Minister Masuka.
“That must be supplemented by ensuring that all new crops and varieties that are suitable for a particular agro-ecological region are grown. In this region, we encourage sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, groundnuts, roundnuts and other such crops.”
As for farmers who used to produce maize and prefer consuming maize meal, Dr Masuka said the Government has a robust grain swap or exchange programme administered by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) whereby farmers can exchange small grains for maize.
The grain swap programme was launched by the Government recently and seeks to encourage maize and traditional grains production in appropriate geo-ecological regions.
In order to increase maize production, Minister Masuka said the sector has also increased hectarage under irrigation by identifying institutional and individual farms that will be put under irrigation.
“We have now identified available irrigation land for maize for this coming summer cropping season. We have so far identified 70 000 hectares by individual farmers to supplement the irrigation schemes,” he said.
He said the programme also includes institutional farms, Government farms, all agricultural colleges, all prison
A field prepared for planting under the Intwasa/Pfumvudza model
farms and all Zimbabwe Republic Police farms.
“We are identifying these with potential irrigation so that they can be brought into full production to guarantee the country food security despite the El Nino threat,” said Dr Masuka.
The Second Republic has in the last five years channelled he resources towards revitalising irrigation schemes across the country, a development that has seen irrigation hectarage increasing from about 150 000 to 204 000 hectares.
Already, more than US$600 million has been set aside by the Government for the 2023/24 farming season while the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe has committed $68 billion and US$160 million.
All the 460 irrigation schemes across the country will be put under irrigation during the summer cropping season to complement the Intwasa/Pfumvudza programme, which is aimed at increasing yields in the face of the looming El Nino.
Regions 1, 2, and 3 have a higher probability of receiving normal to below normal rainfall for most of the sub-seasons that make the period October 2023 to March 2024.
The bulk of Matabeleland North province, parts of Midlands covering Gokwe North and South districts, and parts of Matabeleland South province are expected to receive below-normal to normal rainfall while normal rainfall with a bias towards below-normal rainfall is highly likely for the remaining provinces.
The rainfall is expected to be erratic in space and time, with violent storms, prolonged dry spells, flash floods and tropical cyclones as the season progresses.
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