Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo [email protected]
GOVERNMENT is targeting to increase the area under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa climate-smart farming programme to one million hectares during the 2026/27 summer cropping season, up from 718 000 hectares last season, as it moves to strengthen the country’s resilience to anticipated dry conditions.
The target is part of measures to climate-proof agriculture amid forecasts of a drier 2026/27 cropping season, with farmers being urged to begin preparing their plots ahead of the onset of the rains.
Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri urged farmers to start holing out now while the soils are dry.
“Last year, in 2025, we did 718 000 hectares under Pfumvudza, which was a massive improvement from the last years,” Prof Jiri said.
“For this season, which will be drier, we are focusing, as one of the key pillars, on improving and increasing the contribution of Pfumvudza to food security. And as such, we are targeting one million hectares to be put under Pfumvudza, because Pfumvudza is a climate-proofing agenda.”
He said climate-proofing dryland farming was critical to ensuring that crops survived through to maturity under challenging weather conditions.
“If farmers do not climate-proof, it will be very difficult for the dryland crop to be able to make it to maturity,” said Prof Jiri.
He said Government wanted every household to establish at least three Pfumvudza plots during the coming season.
“The holing out must be done now, when it’s dry, ahead of the start of the rain season,” he urged.
“Some of the plots are largely permanent now, because the key success to Pfumvudza is the permanence of the plots. Which is why you see most farmers that have been doing Pfumvudza over the years, they are now holing out.
“But for those that are going to be doing new plots, we also expect them to do them now, to make those plots permanent.”
Prof Jiri also urged farmers to begin collecting mulch, which will help conserve moisture once the rains begin.
“Additionally, farmers must also invest in gathering mulch at this stage, so that once the rain season approaches, they start laying the mulch and the plants, and the moisture will then be contained,” he said.
He said agroecological tailoring would be another key pillar of the programme, with farmers encouraged to select crops and varieties suited to the conditions of their respective regions.
He said matching crops to the appropriate agroecological regions would improve productivity despite the anticipated dry conditions.
“Those two aspects will ensure that under dryland cropping, we get the best crop that we should get in these conditions of our area,” Prof Jiri added.
The Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme promotes conservation agriculture through small, intensively managed plots designed to improve moisture retention, enhance productivity and reduce the impact of erratic rainfall.
