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Sharon Shayanewako
AGRICULTURAL extension officers who received motor cycles to enhance mobility are set to receive 20 litres of fuel every month, as the Government intensifies efforts to capacitate them to effectively deliver extension services to farmers in their respective wards.
The move is meant to ensure the country produces crops successfully to boost food security as well as avail raw materials that will allow industries to start operating to capacity in line with Vision 2030 of becoming an upper-middle-income economy.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development chief director responsible for Agriculture Advisory Services, Professor Obert Jiri said extension service capacitation was a fundamental piece in the agriculture transformation process.
“Extension service workers are crucial in supporting and feeding farmers with the pertinent technical advice, as the country is striving to achieve food security at all costs.
“All extension officers with licences and recently got motorbikes are being provided with 20 litres of fuel every month to help them deliver extension services in their respective wards. We have 1 600 wards and each ward has two or three extension officers. They used to walk distances of around 20km delivering extension services. The Government has realised that long distances would negatively affect their potential. As a country, we want to ensure food security at all costs, therefore training of farmers is indeed vital,” observed Prof Jiri.
Prof Jiri further noted that the Agritex department’s core mandate was to train farmers in various technical issues and technological innovations as well as farming concepts, for instance, the current Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme.
Meanwhile, Pfumvudza inputs will this season be distributed according to the soil and climatic requirements of the country’s various agro-ecological regions.
“Each extension officer has a map on the country’s agro-ecological regions and knows the requirements of his or her ward, usually from results of soil tests done to ascertain the potency of the land. This will define how we will attend to the soil, where the pH is low, we apply lime,” added Prof Jiri.
The country adopted the Pfumvudza/Intwasa concept based on the principles of minimum soil disturbance (holing out), mulching to conserve moisture, timeliness of operations and adoption of good agronomic practices.
National food self-sufficiency is crucial to the Government’s economic development tool – the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), which identifies food security and nutrition as key drivers of economic revival.
Online Reporter