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Michael Magoronga
Midlands Bureau
Climate-proof agriculture methods are set to be intensified by the Government as part of measures to adapt to climate change vagaries amid projections of a below-normal to normal rain in the 2023/24 summer farming season.
This comes as the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) has predicted that the country will receive below-normal to normal rainfall with the bulk of Matabeleland North, parts of Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces being the most affected.
Speaking during a Midlands Provincial field day at Bem 3 Kuguta Farm in Kwekwe on Monday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Dr John Basera said Government is preparing to launch adaptation measures to buttress already existing climate-proof methods.
Already, the Second Republic has been revitalising irrigation schemes, a development that has seen irrigation hectarage increasing from about 150 000 to the current 204 000 hectares.
Government also introduced the Pfumvudza/Intwasa farming method which runs along with the Presidential Input Support Scheme.
Dr Basera said the Government ought to be proactive ahead of the 2023/24 farming season hence the preparations to launch the Adapt, Mitigate, Act (AMA) scheme to support the already existing conservation farming methods.
“We have been told that rainfall amounts and distributions will be below normal to normal this coming season and as a Government, we have to take measures that help us adapt to climate change,” he said.
“We are thus preparing to launch the AMA programme as we need to protect against vagaries of climate change.”
Although the AMA project will be spread across many sectors of the agriculture economy, Dr Basera said there is a need to protect and preserve the nation’s cattle herd from the vagaries of climate change.
“We are introducing the urea treatment project where farmers are urged to bale their grass so that they can feed their livestock. We have set aside 5 000 metric tonnes of urea for its treatment,” he said.
“We call it ‘own farm survival’ where every farmer needs to preserve their livestock herd and therefore climate-proof the national herd against the vagaries of climate change.”
Dr Basera said the AMA programme also factors in the fisheries department where every irrigation scheme and community village is encouraged to come up with fish ponds with Government supplying the fingerlings.
He said the distribution of inputs for the 2023/24 farming season has already started and urged farmers to adopt the conservation farming methods correctly for maximum yields.
“About three million beneficiaries will benefit from the input distribution which has already started. We are expecting provincial launches to commence soon so that farmers can start farming adhering to all the tenets of conservation agriculture,” said Dr Basera.
In terms of winter wheat, Dr Basera said the country is expecting between 420 000 and 430 000 tonnes from the 90 101 hectares put under winter wheat.
Kuguta Farm, which is owned by the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, put 150 hectares under wheat, and expected an average of six tonnes per hectare.
The farm is also thriving in livestock, soya beans, potatoes, and fish farming.
State-of-the-art equipment including a drone to counter the menacing quelea birds has also come in handy to ensure maximised yields.
Dr Basera commended Dr Sibanda for leading from the front in farming.
“Agriculture, as seen here on this farm, plays an anchor role in the attainment of Vision 2030. This is through employment creation, supplying of raw materials, growth of the rural economy, and of course, export hence earning foreign currency,” he said.
“As you can see all that is available on this farm and if we get at least ten people from each province, we will go a long way in becoming self-sufficient.”
Dr Basera said the country has already surpassed its target of US$8,1 billion in agriculture economy and has already set an ambitious US$14 billion economy by 2025.
Online Reporter