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George Maponga in Masvingo
A 65-year-old former agriculture extension worker Mr Rabson Guruvheti has scooped the inaugural 2022 overall best sugar cane out-grower farmer sponsored by Lowveld sugar producer Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe (THZ).
Mr Guruvheti of Farm 16 Subdivision 1 under Hippo Valley Estates was honoured after recording an unassailable average yield per hectare of 128 tonnes to rake in a total harvest of 4 198 tonnes milled at Hippo Valley.
To put Mr Guruvheti’s farming excellence into perspective, the average yield among most cane farmers in the Lowveld is 80 tonnes per hectare, which is enough for one to break even.
The father of seven, who took up his 37ha farm in 2010 as one of the now over 1 000 beneficiaries of the landmark land reform that converted huge company estates into smaller commercial sugar farms, had a double celebration after also scooping the Best Farmer Award in the medium category during a ceremony held at Triangle Country Club recently.
There were six categories that were up for grabs at the ceremony: overall best farmer, best female farmer, best farmer (medium category), best youth out-grower, best small-scale plot, best medium plot and best large plot.
A total of 24 farmers were honoured for winning on the night in different categories where nearly 1 150 cane farmers from five milling groups participated.
The farmers were drawn from five mill groups: Triangle Mill Group, Triangle Estates Mill Group, Hippo Valley Mill Group, Hippo Valley Estates Mill Group and Mkwasine Mill Group.
For his efforts, the qualified agriculture extension worker walked away with prizes that included 85 bags of fertilisers, 60 litres of herbicides, a certificate and a trophy from Tongaat.
He paid tribute to God for blessing him while attributing his farming excellence to doing everything to perfection.
“I am simply a perfectionist who does what is supposed to be done and I also believe in God and sticking with God helps one to be disciplined,” said Mr Guruvheti.
“I am a professional farmer having trained and graduated from an agricultural training college in 1977. I am a qualified farmer who does everything by the book, but I also exercise financial discipline.”
For Mr Guruvheti, who runs the farm with his family, with his fourth child, Zorodzai, being the farm manager, said there is still scope to increase yield per hectare up to 150 tonnes.
“I know what must be done in the field,” he said. “Farmers should do exactly what must be done making sure their plots are weed free because weeds compete with cane for fertilisers. Farmers should also attend to their drainage to make sure their field is properly drained.”
While his farm straddles 37ha, Mr Guruvheti said he only harvested cane from 32,8ha after he cut almost 5ha of his crop to feed his starving cattle.
“We could have harvested more cane, but we cut about 5ha to feed our cattle that were almost starving because of drought,” he said.
He paid tribute to the Government for embarking on land reform.
“When I came to occupy my plot around 2010 I was wearing torn shoes and clothes, and I would not believe it that before I came here I dreamt staying in a house like I am staying today,” he said.
“I am now well-off and drive top of the range cars; a Nissan Patrol, Land Cruiser and Land Rover Discovery.”
Mr Guruvheti now boasts four New Holland tractors, a perry loader to haul cane and six musk cane for ferrying cane.
“I now do my own tillage at my farm and I started last year when I bought new tractors, before that I was outsourcing tillage,” he said.
“I also don’t have haulage costs because I ferry my own cane to the mill at Hippo Valley where I make sure I deliver 6 bundles daily when the milling season starts.”
Land reform, he said, was the best thing to ever happened to Zimbabwe.
“Land reform has changed the lives of many Zimbabweans,what is now left is to work very hard to empower ourselves,” he said.
“We have to work hard to produce more and change our lives. I am very grateful for what the Government did for me.”
The inaugural Tongaat Sugar Cane Farmer of the year said it was not all bed of roses in cane farming, citing an array of challenges stymieing optimum production in the sector.
“There are problems with payments now,” he said. “Sugar cane farming is both labour and capital intensive and the issue of payments for our sugar bowl has problems it’s no longer like before and it’s not what we expect. It affects cash flow, selling of the sugar maybe a challenge and the sugar price continues to go down.”
His cane crop is made up of ZN8 and N14 varieties.
Tongaat head of Corporate and Industry Affairs Dr Dahlia Garwe noted that Mr Guruvheti has an outstanding level of financial discipline.
“He is every extension officer’s source of pride,” she said.
“He takes extension advice seriously and promptly, Strongly believes in adequate and timeous application of agro-inputs, consistent yield improvement from 2 748t (84t/ha) in 2019 to 4 198t (128t/ha) in 2022.”
Turning to out-grower cane farmers, Dr Garwe described them as a key cog in the value chain of sugar production in Zimbabwe.
“Most of them are beneficiaries of the land reform programme and they contribute 40 percent of the sugarcane delivered to Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle Mills annually,” he said. “The outgrower farmers are part of sustainable empowerment drive for local communities.
“The synergy between sugarcane outgrowers and the company is a win-win situation. However, there is need to promote quality production, increased yield per hectare and sustainable use of agricultural technology within this farmer body.”
Tongaat had thus pitched the idea of having outgrower farmer awards to be held on an annual basis as part of encouraging and motivating the current farmers and also attracting potential sugarcane farmers among women and youths to embody a culture of agricultural excellence.
Online Reporter