daniel chigunwe
Edgar Vhera
Agriculture Specialist Writer
WITH the country set to employ all tricks in the book to mitigate the harsh impact of the predicted El Nino phenomenon in the 2023/24 farming season, the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) is targeting to maintain food security through increased grain production, which will see it planting plant over 20 000 hectares of irrigated maize.
This will ensure that the country has adequate grain stocks for both human and animal consumption from local production.
ARDA chief executive officer Mr Tinotenda Mhiko said his organisation was targeting to contribute at least 10 percent of the national strategic grain reserve (SGR) requirements.
“As the summer cropping season gets underway, ARDA is targeting to establish at least 20 000 hectares of maize crop at ARDA estates, irrigation schemes and irrigated joint venture programmes to climate-proof agricultural production and counter the vagaries of the predicted El Nino phenomenon where normal to below normal rainfall is expected during the 2023/24 summer season. Out of this hectarage, an estimated 100 000 tonnes of grain are expected to be harvested which is a 10 percent contribution to the national SGR requirements,” the ARDA boss said.
ARDA is also set to increase production of drought tolerant traditional grains.
Mr Mhiko said ARDA would establish at least 5 000 hectares of drought-tolerant and climate-smart varieties of sunflower and sorghum.
“The crops will be established and managed under the revolutionary V30 Accelerator Model, which guarantees sustainability, viability and profitability for both ARDA and rural household beneficiaries. The production of sunflowers and sorghum will be done in line with policy direction where crop production will be matched and supported by the agro-ecological region,” Mr Mhiko added.
Speaking at media luncheon recently, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Dr John Basera revealed the pro-active plan of the Government to counteract the forecast El Niño likely to characterise the forthcoming season.
“Irrigation development is our first line of defence and as such this year we want to commit as much hectarage under irrigation to maize in order to climate-proof our food security and food self-sufficiency thrust. We have 204 000 hectares nationally under irrigation but we need to discount the area under sugarcane, other crop plantations and livestock enterprises. If the country can dedicate 120 000 hectares to irrigated maize and aim to get an average yield of seven tonnes per hectare, 840 000 tonnes of maize will be produced,” Dr Basera said.
Dr Basera added that irrigation was part of the Adaptation Mitigation and Action (AMA) under the irrigation rehabilitation programme dubbed the quick-fix programme where the nation intends to put an additional 20 000 hectares under irrigation by November through various instruments and financed to the tune of US$27 million.
He said Government was now tackling the problem of tragedy of the commons prevalent in many irrigation schemes that had been rehabilitated by the Second Republic through the adoption of the business model introduced by ARDA whose roll out would be presided over by business development managers working with extension officers.
“Government has super imposed viability across all the 460 irrigation schemes with over 26 000 hectares of land by roping in ARDA to manage them. This is part of ARDA’s rural development mantra,” he said.
Online Reporter