Farmers appeal for irrigation equipment

A representative of the A1 farmers at Ngezi Mine, Mr Andrew Kudakwashe Sachikonye, last week said they did not have enough money to buy the equipment and so potentially good crops are lost whenever there is a prolonged dry spell.
“We are having financial difficulties in getting irrigation equipment and our cotton crop has been severely affected,” Mr Sachikonye said.
Farmers in the area need transformers to kick-start the irrigation scheme. The area has about 200 farmers who need irrigation.
Mr Sachikonye said farmers had borrowed from the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, Cottco and Sino Zimbabwe to plant their cotton and a loss would place them in bad debt.
In an interview, the Zimbabwe Farmers Union director Mr Paul Zakariya said inputs were available in the country but farmers needed money to buy them.
Mr Zakariya said that farmers with such problems should approach their nearest ZFU branch for assistance. He said the union could only assist farmers whose issues have been brought to their attention.
“We are encouraging farmers to buy inputs and stock up for the next farming season,” he said.
ZFU has linked up with the private sector as part of efforts to allow farmers to access inputs on loan and repay over a period of time.
Mr Zakariya encouraged farmers who had benefited from loans to pay off their debts.
“We are advising farmers to clear their debts, especially those that benefited from the link with the private sector,” he said.
Most farmers have benefited from Government’s mechanisation programme and the recently launched input scheme rolled out through the Grain Marketing Board.