Call to venture into Macademia plants

Latwell Nyangu

Small scale farmers have been urged to venture into Macademia nuts plantations which are now a huge demand on the international market.

The plant which is gaining market for its value is popular in the Eastern Highlands and Manicaland in Zimbabwe.

To mark the new dawn of the plant in Mashonaland Central, a field day was held at Makumbiri Farm, where over 200 farmers graced the occasion.

ZimTrade Export manager, Tatenda Marume said, the plantation is gaining the market.

 

“We are urging farmers to come on board and enjoy the benefits of producing high-valued nuts.

“The nut in the shell is going for an average price of US$4.60 per kilogramme while cracked nuts are being sold for US$12,” he said.

 

The farm is owned by Jefta and his wife Tsitsi Mugweni who also urged farmers to embrace the plantation.

“We are hosting Macademia Field Day in Mashonald Central with a purpose of showcasing the Macademia plantations that we set up in 2018.

“It’s now five years towards fruition and we have a nursery which was developed from the seed that came out of the ten hectares.

“We want to encourage other farmers to get into Macademia farming as it has been proven that this plantation is limited in the Eastern Highlands only but it’s now clear we can grow this in the Mazowe area.

 

“We are selling the nursery to those who want to grow the Macademia and we are creating a market for them as well,” said Jefta.

 

“Instead of going to Chipinge to buy the plants, you can buy them here and we also want to develop the plantation from ten hectares to 30 to 60 hectares in the next five years.

 

“We also want to add value by creating a factory to process the nuts into oils, soap. We are urging small farmers to consider this plant. We did a lot of research while in South Africa and also my wife visited Chipinge to get some first-hand information.”

 

While Tsitsi said:

“We kept confidence that we could do this here and I came up with the idea with the support of my husband. It is a plant that when maintained well, can give amazing returns. Experts say the plant can go up to 80 years yielding results,” she said.

 

Agronomist, Persistence Maposa, said the plantations need grafting.

 

“The best for a farmer is to buy grafted plants since they can start yielding fruits in three to four years’ time.

 

“Without grafting, a farmer can start yielding results from eight years. There is also a need to keep bees for pollination to take place.”