Buy right seeds, farmers urged

manager, Mr Irvin Craig, said it was critical for farmers to seek advice from experts on the appropriate seed for their farming areas.
“It is crucial that farmers know all the Seed Co varieties as well as their variety placement. I would like to urge all farmers to buy the right seeds for their ecological regions. The amount of fertiliser used should tally with the amount of seed and hectarage covered,” he said.
Seed Co managing director Mr Denias Zaranyika advised farmers to buy seeds from authorised dealers.
“There have been incidents in the past where farmers were duped into buying fake seeds.
“Some farmers think that by buying cheap seeds they would be making a saving but in actual fact cheap seeds are expensive in that the projected yields dwindle and in the process farmers make losses,” he said.
Mr Owen Marupeti, an officer in the Zimbabwe Prison Services, who won the national prize — a tractor — expressed gratitude to Seed Co and said the tractor would be an important asset to the Zimbabwean Prison Services farm.
“I am thankful to Seed Co for giving me the tractor and I would like to promise Prison Service family                      that the tractor will be of benefit to all of us,” he                  said.
Zimbabwe Prison Service Commissioner Retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi also expressed his gratitude for the prize and automatically promoted Marupeti from prison officer rank to senior prison officer.
“I would like to applaud you Mr Zaranyika and your team for investing in the development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices through such campaigns as Murigadzose Bumper harvest promotion.
“Prison officers and prisoners from all the prison farms planted your high-yielding varieties and experienced excellent yields,” he said.
The Bumper Harvest Murigadzose promotion is an annual consumer event which began in 2010 with the aim of motivating farmers to use high yield varieties after the realisation of decreased output in the agriculture sector.