THE Government’s push to revitalise the dairy sector continues to gather steam with 2 000 small-scale farmers set to benefit under the Presidential Silage Input Scheme that seeks to set farmers up for intensive dairy farming.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos recently revealed that input packages for the Presidential Silage Input Scheme were made up of inputs for a hectare of maize and half a hectare of irrigated star grass.
The Government through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development is rebuilding the dairy industry with a view to increase production to meet national demand.
Said Dep Min Haritatos: “The intention is to increase milk production, increase rural per capita income and improve household food security and nutrition.”
The input package contains 25kg maize seed for farmers that are in high rainfall zones and 10kg red sorghum for farmers in dry areas.
Last year, Zimbabwe’s milk production was 75 million litres against a national annual demand of 120 million litres.
“This initiative is expected to bolster national milk supply through increasing milk production from 18 litres per cow daily to 20 litres,” said Dep Min Haritatos.
He added that the dairy revitalisation programme would be pivotal in the push towards the attainment of Vision 2030.
To supplement natural forage, the Government has lined up a number of programmes to assist dairy farmers under the National Enhanced Agriculture Productivity Scheme silage programme.
In addition, Dep Min Haritatos said focus for all dairy value chain actors was on rebuilding the large, medium and smallholder dairy sub-sectors. He assured the nation that the Government would continue to support the dairy industry operations and developments.
Moreover, the Government’s thrust is to capacitate small-scale farmers to achieve full capacity utilisation and transform home economies for improved livelihoods.
The livestock sub-sector contributes to household and national food nutritional security, foreign currency earnings and is a source of livelihood for 67 percent of the country’s rural households, with approximately 30 000 workers employed within the dairy value chain.
“I am encouraged by the forward-thinking and innovative approach meant to contribute to the cattle industry and the Zimbabwean economy at large as investment in livestock are known for their ability to preserve the investment value and cattle are a stable currency with a guaranteed impact on our economy,” he further observed.
Director for Livestock Production and Development Mr Alban Mhindurwa said the distribution of the inputs for the programme was already underway and beneficiaries were already receiving them. – The Herald
