Farmers encouraged to prepare for summer cropping season

Precious Manomano

Herald Reporter

Farmers are encouraged to prepare adequately ahead of the fast approaching summer cropping season so that they can do the necessary activities on time and make their season successful.

Currently farmers are finalising harvesting and marketing of various crops of the just ended season while others are busy preparing tobacco seedbeds and making land preparations and tilting.

While they are doing so some are already procuring inputs under the Presidential Inputs support scheme programme which will soon be cascaded to all provinces.

Planning ahead of the season will also mean that farmers will not miss important deadlines.

Crops that are planted late because farmers would have been struggling to mobilise resources usually do not perform to their full potential, which deprives the farmers of possible yields and revenue.

Permanent Secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr John Basera said this year farmers are getting inputs on time so that they embark early on farming; this will improve their preparedness and ensure early planting.

“One of the programmes under Rural Development programme 8.0 is obviously the Presidential input support programme and we have Pfumvudza input support programme which  supports 3,5 million beneficiaries throughout the country. Each household or beneficiary will get the input package comprising seed, a basal dressing fertiliser, top dressing fertiliser as well as technical agronomic practices,” he said.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) secretary general Mr Paul Zakariya said farmers are well prepared this season following various support schemes which are put in place to assist farmers.

“Financial schemes are there so we are calling for the banks to speed up processes and inputs distribution programmes should be scaled up to ensure that farmers get their inputs early because so far land preparation is currently progressing well. Farmers should put lime in acidic soils right now because lime needs about three months before planting to ensure a good harvest,” he said.

He also said wheat condition is currently good with most farmers ready for the summer cropping season.

Tobacco Farmers Union Trust president Mr Victor Mariranyika said preparations are on, adding that some are doing seedbeds.

He said measures should be put in place to ensure that contracting companies give farmers enough seed at the correct time.

“If farmers get inputs on time, we are assured of a good harvest. Sometimes contracting companies do not provide inputs on time thereby compromising the quality and productivity. Some have secured inputs after selling their crops recently,” he said.

Zimbabwe Indigenous Women Farmers Association Trust president Mrs Depinah Nkomo said if Grain Marketing Board (GMB) speeds up grain payments there is possibility of procuring inputs on time, adding that more farmers prefer cash on delivery rather than waiting for a long time to get payments.

“This will ensure that we go back to the fields well prepared. If we sell our crops on time, we also require payments on time so that we sustain farming and we also procure chemicals, fertilizers and seeds on time. We are ready as farmers but we need support on time to fulfil our obligations as farmers. We rely on farming so in order to embark on another season we need money,” she said.

Mrs Margaret Runemo of Katawa Raffingora indicated that farmers should be properly paid, adding that production costs should be considered when setting producer prices.

“We need a mechanism in which inputs are not expensive, which enables farmers to retain profits, which they take home after the season,” she said.

Mr Togarepi Mutuzva of Banket indicated that the majority of farmers have secured inputs after selling tobacco at the floors.

Lack of irrigation facilities means most farmers to rely on rain fed farming. “All is in place but we are waiting for rain in order for production to take place. We appeal for our Government to increase irrigation schemes so that we engage in tobacco production early,” he said.

The Government came in strongly with the Pfumvudza/Intwasa conservation scheme, Presidential Input Scheme and National Enhanced Crop Productivity Scheme (known better as Command Agriculture) among other initiatives, which all contributed to the big harvest.

The success is attributable not only to favourable rainfall, but also to early and effective preparations on the part of the Government, farmers and providers of the various inputs.

Farmers were also advised that a number of strategies will be implemented to increase productivity of all crops, including the information dissemination and technology transfer by up-scaling the Farmer Field Schools per village concept; intensification of use of digital platforms and online applications; capacity building through intensive in-service training of agricultural extension officers; liming and soil reconditioning; climate proofing and irrigation development.

The other strategies include enhancing input support and availability; ensuring affordable financing; strengthening smallholder and large-scale mechanization; and implementing a Grain Swap Scheme at the Grain Marketing Board.

The Government Climate–Proofed Presidential Input Programme will target 3.5 million farmers from Communal, A1, Small-Scale Commercial Farming, Old Resettlement and the transient urban cultivation sectors for cereals, oilseeds and legumes.

The programme will support five Pfumvudza plots per household with an agro-ecological region-specific crop input package for maize, sorghum, pearl millet, soya beans, sunflower, groundnuts, vegetables and African peas.

The Zunde RaMambo scheme will support 10 plots for each chief, seven plots for each headman and five plots each for each village head.

Pfumvudza/Intwasa package for each household will be as follows: a 10kg pack of maize seed for farmers in regions 1 and 2; a 5kg pack for those in region 3; and a 2kg pack of either sorghum or pearl millet seed for those in regions 4 and 5. While each farmer will also receive a 50kg bag of basal fertilizer, top-dressing fertiliser and lime. The package per farmer for other optional crops will be packs of 2kg each for sorghum, sunflower, sugar beans and groundnuts as well as 1kg of pearl millet and African peas.

 Regarding the target for the 2023/2024 Cotton Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme, two plots of 0.25 hectares will be required for each grower to access inputs. The programme has a tillage component and support for hybrid cotton varieties.