Online Reporter
Edgar Vhera
Specialist Writer- Agribusiness
Wheat farmers have been advised to be conversant with water requirements for their winter cropping projects to avoid incurring unnecessary losses.
This advice comes on the backdrop of a notice from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) advising all irrigators to understand crop water requirements as these had a bearing on cost of production.
The authority disclosed that over the past seasons, some farmers found themselves saddled with huge irrigation water bills, which some ended up failing to pay owing to their inability to appreciate and understand the water requirements for their crop.
In terms of Statutory Instrument (SI) 206 of 2001, all people using raw water from ZINWA managed dams are required to enter into water abstraction agreements with the authority.
“When one applies for an agreement, he or she states the amount of water expected to use during the period concerned and if the water is available in the dam, ZINWA reserves the corresponding allocation for the farmer.
“The water becomes exclusively available to the agreement holder and cannot be released to anyone else,” said ZINWA.
The authority said the farmer pays the full amount for the water allocated, even in the event of not utilising the full allocation.
ZINWA said the principle behind this is for people not to unnecessarily hold water to the prejudice of others and guard against speculative tendencies.
“It is therefore prudent that farmers seek expert advice from agriculture extension officers in their respective areas on how much water they would require in a particular season.
“Water requirements, even for the same crop, vary due to factors such as soil type and obtaining weather pattern for a particular area and the extension workers are in a position to come up with authentic and useful figures to help farmers,” said ZINWA.
The authority is also discouraging farmers from applying for huge amounts of water to get an agreement that they use to get bank loans and other inputs.
According to the Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS), between 4,5 and 6 mega litres of water are required to irrigate a hectare of wheat in the growing season depending on the irrigation method and soil type.
ARDAS chief director, Mrs Medlinah Magwenzi said wheat required adequate moisture, especially during germination, tillering and grain filling stages.
“Soil type and water-holding capacity, climate and temperature, variety and growth stage as well as irrigation system efficiency are the main factors influencing water requirements.
“An appropriate irrigation schedule brings soil to field capacity at germination, hardens the crop from seven to 14 days while a light irrigation (30 -35 mm) will be applied for crown root development and tillering two to three weeks after emergence,” she said.
Mrs Magwenzi said for subsequent irrigations farmers needed to consider soil type and weather.
The 2026 winter production plan targets the cultivation of wheat on 125 000 hectares to produce an estimated 662 500 tonnes.
Farmers were encouraged to plant their crop within the optimal window period from May 1 to May 31.
