AS most parts of the country receive rains after a dry spell towards the end of December, farmers have expressed hope of a good harvest and continue to work hard on their fields.
Official reports indicate most crops are showing signs of recovery from moisture stress, and the situation is expected to improve based on the positive weather forecasts by the Meteorological Services Department.
Zimbabwe requires about 2,2 million tonnes of maize for human and livestock consumption yearly and the three million tonnes target is expected to position the country as a significant player in grain production in the region.
This year farmers are expected to plant two million hectares of maize. For sorghum, the Government has set a target of 380 000ha to produce 304 000 tonnes while 250 000ha are set to be put under pearl millet to produce 150 000 tonnes.
Many communal farmers have adopted the Pfumvudza/Intwasa concept based on the principles of minimum soil disturbance (holing out), mulching to conserve moisture, timeliness of operations, and adoption of good agronomic practices.
National food self-sufficiency is key to the Government’s economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy 1, which identifies food security and nutrition as key drivers of economic revival.
In the Midlands, rains that have been falling across the province since New Year’s Day have ignited farmers’ hopes of a good season after the dry spell that characterized the end of 2022.
In separate interviews, farmers said they were happy that the rains have been falling – a development that resulted in crops recovering from moisture stress.
“The resurgence of rainfall after a dry spell towards the end of December has brought joy to us farmers as crops are now showing signs of recovering from moisture stress,” said Mr Claudius Moyo from Mkoba 11 suburb who has an acre under maize crop at an open space near Bata Shoe Company.
Another farmer, Mrs Loveness Matsika said the dry spell had made her lose hope of salvaging anything from her fields.
“The rains have come timeously and I am optimistic that the crops will retain their glow again,” she said.
Midlands Provincial Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs Madeline Magwenzi said the wet spell is bringing smiles to farmers’ faces and relieving crops from the moisture stress experienced last week.
“In Midlands Province, the season started well, and farmers planted immediately. Unfortunately, the germination percentage was poor in some areas on dryland,” she said.
“This was attributed to inadequate moisture for germination. All districts did germination tests before seed issuance and were good. So, the challenge varied on the rains received per area since it was not even.”
Mrs Magwenzi said generally, the crops under irrigation are looking very good, and the rest have top-dressed.
She said the dryland crop in districts like Gokwe North and South, parts of Kwekwe, Mvuma, Gweru, Zvishavane, and Shurugwi are looking good but some parts of the same districts are indicating moisture stress.
“We are grateful for cloud seeding that was done last week because in the Midlands, some parts of Gweru, Zvishavane, Mberengwa and Shurugwi received some rains on New Year’s Day and we are hopeful that it will cover the whole province by the weekend. That would place our crops in a good condition,” said Mrs Magwenzi. She said special training was being rolled out to capacitate farmers to fight weeds.
“This training is very key to attaining high yields. Many farmers plant well but fail to weed and lose the whole crop. Farmers should be weeding using chemicals, which is very effective and backbone saving. If it’s hand weeding, let it be now too so as to have a healthy crop with optimum yields,” said Mrs Magwenzi.
She called upon farmers to be on the lookout for pests in the fields and to keep the crop clean.
“Generally, the crop is good and if the rains continue, we are optimistic of a good harvest,” said Mrs Magwenzi.
In Matabeleland South, the crop and livestock situation is generally fair although some districts have not received rains in the last few days.
Acting provincial director of agricultural development and advisory services, Mr Mkhunjulelwa Ndlovu said they will continue to monitor the situation.
“The first crop can be at risk if rains delay because it’s approaching early reproductive stages. The second is only experiencing temporary wilting during the day. The last crop is still in a stable condition,” he said.
“In terms of Intwasa/Pfumvudza plots, these are still in stable condition and generally fair across the province, although the maize crop is highly vulnerable.”.
Mr Ndlovu said on livestock, the small stock had greatly improved and that cattle in other districts, especially regions 4b and 5a (Insiza, Matobo, Bulilima, Gwanda, Umzingwane, Mangwe northern parts) have shown great improvement.
He said in region 5b grazing was still in a compromised state in some pockets mainly in Gwanda, Beitbridge and Matobo Districts.
Since last year, the Government has been distributing seed types and varieties under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa program depending on the climatic conditions in a particular area.
Matabeleland South falls largely under the agricultural region five and the metrological region three, which in most cases receives anything above 450mm of rain per season for crops to do well. – The Chronicle
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