Chronicle Editor
Natalie Adlam
The 2023 Bulawayo Agricultural Show proved that Zimbabwe is indeed open for business! Numbers were well up in most sections and it was a full and busy event.
Cattle
85 head of slaughter stock were entered at this year’s show — an increase of 77 on the last show. However, as most of the entrants were first-time exhibitors, only a few head qualified for the competition. The Champion Ox was won by Frank Pledge Ltd, with an animal that weighed 415kg and realised US$1 200 on the auction — a worthy winner!
Pedigree cattle were showcased by four breeds: the Brahman, Nkone, Simmental and Tuli. A total of 58 head were entered, up from 18 in 2022. The Senior Champion Bull was won by Little Beatrice Brahmans with a magnificent grey Brahman and the Champion Cow, Junior Heifer and Junior Bull were all won by the Simmental, shown by Biano Farm. The cattle were judged by John Crawford from Chinhoyi.
Crops
Cotton classes: there were 17 entries up from 12 entries in 2022. The crop section had 2 401 entries up from 1 571 entries in 2022. There were 75 commercial, up from 43 in 2022 and 18 groups made up this section for 2023, up from 14 in 2022.
Farmers were drawn from Binga, Bubi, Bulawayo, Bulilima, Gwanda, Hwange, Insiza, Lupane, Mangwe, Matobo, Nkayi, Tsholotsho, Umguza and Umzingwane. The overall group winner was, once again, Mathole Group from Bubi. This section had an outstanding entry, taking into consideration the very patchy rains.
We thank Mr I Craig of Agriseeds for taking the time to be our Guest of Honour at the Prize Giving ceremony and presenting an informative speech.
Sheep and Goats
139 sheep and 28 goats were entered, plus 10 sheep in the newly introduced carcass competition. The Champion Boer Goat and Ewe were won by Vodloza Farm, owned by Peter Mukombe. The Champion Dorper Ram and Ewe was won by Wholesale Beef, owned by Dale Saudan — and he won the Champion and Reserve Carcasses too. The judges were Joe Sikhosana, Chris Grant and Gay Wilde. Special thanks must be given to BSI Steel for donating fencing for the judging arena.
Poultry
A total of 160 birds were entered, compared to 212 birds that were shown last year. The decrease was due to an exhibitor having fowl pox just before the show. The Champion Cockerel and Hen were won by P Tabengwa with her Bantam couple. The judges were Dave Heathcote, Robert Gono and Lucky Musarandega.
Home Industries
Judging was done in the junior art and craft entries with the winning pre-school being Greystone Montessori and the winning junior school was Whitestone Primary. As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility, we have introduced a section for the Retirement Homes to enter their hand craft, and this was won by Coronation Cottages, followed by Queen Mary Home. We are hoping to expand this section for 2024 and get more sponsors on board to support our pensioners. A special addition was the Mashobane Farms/Bulembe Farm collaboration, which provides farm training for women, especially in small stock, and in value addition.
Horses
This section ran a small show and put on a training course.
The Society’s main arena was, once again, filled with sponsor companies, showcasing their farming implements, tractors, vehicles, seed, veterinary products, etc. The Best Agricultural Stand was, once again, won by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Settlement, followed by ZFC. The BAS are proud to announce that we have had our first international stand on the arena and awarded a prize to them for their outstanding contribution — Dynapharm from Zambia. The First time exhibitor was won by CFI Holdings.
The Society was privileged to receive visits from His Excellency, President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Guest of Honour, His Majesty King Mswati III, Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga, and the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr Sekai Nzenza. We thank them for their time.
The Society continues to work hard to fulfill its mandate, which is to promote or stimulate interest in agriculture, industry and commerce in any of their branches and departments. We will continue to support and endorse their Government programmes and future endeavours.
The Show ran fairly smoothly and we would like to thank our sponsors, exhibitors and judges for continuing to support agriculture and the Society. It is always much appreciated.
Special thanks always to Nick Ndebele and his staff at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair for our genial working relationship — always a pleasure!
We look forward to the 2024 Show.
Online Reporter