Farmer thrives in mining district

SHURUGWI in the Midlands Province is synonymous with gold, chrome and platinum mining activities.Established in 1899 on the Selukwe Goldfield, Shurugwi is located on a mineral-rich Archaean greenstone belt, known as the Selukwe Schist Belt, making it one of the most mineral-rich towns in the country.

While the majority of people in Shurugwi are into mining, people like Mr Nicholas Gara, popularly known as Madzibaba Gara in the mining town, have opted to venture into commercial farming.“Shurugwi’s economy revolves mainly around mining with a major focus on tapping into the vast mineral deposits.“However, for me and my wife we decided to take farming to another level through embracing Government programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa,” he said.

For the past six years, Mr Gara has been winning awards for his farming prowess in the district, becoming a model farmer at William resettlement area, about 25km west of Shurugwi.He has successfully hosted field days which have drawn thousands of farmers to his farm to take notes.

Despite the adverse effects of climate change characterised by high temperatures and erratic rainfall, Mr Gara embraced has Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme that has become a source of hope and he is expecting to harvest 47 tonnes of maize this year.
“We have managed to put 10 hectares under maize through the Pfumvudza/Intwasa concept. We are guaranteed to harvest 47 tonnes this farming season and I’m optimistic about scooping the best farmer award in the district,” he said.
“I owe my successful farming story to the Government for coming up with the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme.”

Mr Gara who specialises in maize, sunflower and short grains such as rapoko, said his vision is to revolutionise Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector.He said that he is already planning on processing his crops and coming up with the final product at the farm in line with the rural industrialisation agenda.“I have acquired a machine to process sunflowers right there in the fields and produce oil,” said Mr Gara.

He also owns a lodge along the Gweru-Shurugwi highway and runs various mines in Shurugwi, creating employment for locals, thereby contributing to the country’s socio-economic growth in line with Vision 2030.“We are always working on implementing Government agriculture programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa and the results are there for everyone to see.
“We are also creating a lot of employment for the local communities,” said Mr Gara.

“At the end of the day, we are talking of rural industrialisation that is being spearheaded by the Second Republic.”
Mr Gara said his long-term plan is to produce the crop and value add them at his farm.The farm manager, Mr Collet Mapepa, said: “We got it from the Meteorological Services Department that there would be drought and we started ploughing on October 8 last year. “We placed our emphasis on irrigation and grew drought-resistant crops such as sorghum and rapoko.”