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Precious Manomano Herald Reporter
LAND preparations for the new cropping season have reached fever pitch with farmers moving to capitalise on the moisture brought by the recent rains that reportedly covered most parts of the country.
While the Meteorological Services Department and the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development have since indicated that the rains did not signal the start of the season, with farmers needing to put planting on hold, final land preparations should be accelerated to take advantage of the falls.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri came out urging farmers not to plant with the rains saying they should instead speed up land preparations such as Pfumvudza holing and accelerating tillage for those practising conventional farming.
Met Department principal meteorologist Mr James Ngoma added: “Yes, we are getting rains at the moment but the issue is that on the back of these rains we are expecting a hot and dry period of at least more than 10 days to follow. As a result, it may not be wise for farmers to plant now, as that dry period will cause most planted crops to die. This means there will be no sufficient moisture to sustain the growth of the crop. We are not yet receiving consistent rains that will be able to sustain the crop.”
He added that the start of the rainy season would be confirmed basing on how the Met Department assessed the systems, which bring rains and how they will be developing.
Most farmers are currently busy with Pfumvudza/Intwasa holing (making planting stations) while others are gathering mulching material and other forms of organic matter to deposit in the planting stations, while securing fertilisers and other necessary chemicals as well. Distribution of Pfumvudza is also underway in all provinces and is targeting to cover 3,5 million households countrywide under the Presidential Input scheme.
Tobacco Farmers Union Trust (TFUT) president Mr Victor Mariranyika urged farmers to scale up land preparations so that they will plant immediately after the season finally sets in. He, however, said planting tobacco with the recent rains could nourish the crop until the onset of the season.
“Tobacco planting should go on. At the moment the crop is in amazing condition, especially the irrigated crop. The crop has around twelve leaves. Farmers should make sure that they finalise their land preparations. Some farmers with irrigation have begun to plant. Most of them have intensified land preparations and are waiting for proper rains to come so that they plant their major crops,’’ he said.
Zimbabwe National Farmers Union (ZNFU) president Mrs Monica Chinamasa said the current rains were good for tobacco planting adding that farmers should speed up land preparations taking advantage of the moisture, which is currently present in the soil.
“The current rains are good for tobacco planting but bad to those who have not finished harvesting wheat but farmers should take the opportunity to scale up land preparations. It is time to fully prepare so that they are ready to plant all their different crops when the season eventually begins,” she said.
Government is currently seized with creating a conducive environment for a successful forthcoming summer cropping season through capacitation of extension services staff and early distribution of inputs to farmers.
It has increased the area under traditional grains to 700 000ha and 2 million hectares for maize with inputs for the Pfumvudza programme being distributed according to the different agro-ecological zones to ensure optimised production for every natural region.
The seed industry has also assured the country of adequate seed stocks to meet demand in the forthcoming 2023/24 cropping season for both state assisted programmes and the commercial sector.
Chief director policy and planning in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement, Mr Clemence Bwenje recently said that his Ministry was ready for the season adding that they had enough seed for maize, sorghum, sunflower, soya beans, tobacco and cotton as well as the fertilisers.
AFC Holdings group chief executive officer Mr Francis Macheka confirmed their readiness to support farmers adding that they had around 35 combine harvesters and enough tractors on the ground to assist farmers in all the provinces.
“The target is to do 35 000ha of crop but we can go beyond this if need be. For the winter crop we tilled 10 000ha and will harvest 17 000ha. We are prepared to assist all farmers but every farmer we fund must pay back their loans,” he said.
Zimbabwe Agrochemical Association chairperson Ms Mazvita Shumba said there were enough chemicals in stock for the season.
‘’We are very much prepared in terms of inputs for the season, especially on pest and weed management. We are looking at over three million litres of products to be supplied to our farmers from a herbicide as well as insecticide perspective so this year gives you a picture of our commitment financially. As an industry we do invest in ensuring that farmers get yields that they deserve during the season,’’ she said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter