Online Reporter
Precious Manomano
Herald Reporter
THE Government has moved early to cushion farmers against the looming El Niño weather phenomenon by rolling out a comprehensive climate-smart strategy for the 2026/27 summer cropping season, with interventions centred on drought-tolerant crops, irrigation expansion, strategic grain reserves, livestock protection and multiple financing mechanisms to safeguard national food security.
The Cabinet-approved programme, already under implementation, targets 1,8 million hectares of maize and over 500 000 hectares of traditional grains as authorities prepare for a possible drier-than-normal rainfall season.
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said the Government had anticipated the possible El Niño conditions and had already activated measures to minimise their impact on agricultural production.
“We now have the summer plan, which we are busy implementing. In terms of our summer programme, we are targeting 1,8 million hectares of maize and more than 500 000 hectares of traditional grains, together with other strategic crops that we normally produce,” said Prof Jiri.
“The summer plan as approved by Cabinet will be implemented. We know, of course, that there has been a focus on a drier-than-normal rainfall season coming, pending confirmation by the Meteorological Services Department.”
Global weather models indicate about a 90 per cent probability that El Niño will develop during the coming summer season, although the outlook remains subject to confirmation by the Meteorological Services Department.
Prof Jiri said Government’s preparedness strategy is anchored on strengthening the Strategic Grain Reserve, promoting climate-smart agriculture, expanding irrigation, protecting livestock and enhancing coordination and early warning systems.
He said climate-smart agriculture would remain central to the country’s response, and encouraged farmers to grow crops suited to their agro-ecological regions, adopt Pfumvudza/Intwasa conservation agriculture and increase production of traditional grains in drier regions.
“We also want our farmers to use the correct seed variety, which is climate-smart. The shorter and harder the season means we must grow those varieties that are early to medium, and that is what we are encouraging,” he said.
The Government is urging farmers to plant early-maturing maize hybrids, short-season crop varieties and drought-tolerant traditional grains, while accelerating irrigation development and promoting efficient water management to reduce climate-related production risks.
Preparations for the cropping season are already at an advanced stage, with farmers profiled under various financing models to ensure the timely distribution of inputs before the onset of the rains.
“We have already put our farmers into the usual funding options, including private sector financing, Government-funded programmes, self-funded farmers, bank-funded farmers and other financing models. We already have them in place to ensure that our planning is as precise as possible as we move towards the planting season,” said Prof Jiri.
He added that Government had also stepped up livestock preparedness through disease surveillance, dipping, vaccination, supplementary feeding and improved nutrition to protect the national herd during the anticipated dry spell.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services has intensified awareness campaigns encouraging farmers, particularly in drier regions, to adopt traditional grains and other climate-smart farming practices.
Supporting Government’s preparedness efforts, Kutsaga Research is strengthening its climate-smart breeding programme to equip tobacco growers with varieties capable of withstanding drought, heat stress and changing rainfall patterns.
Kutsaga chief executive Dr Frank Magama recently said developing resilient tobacco varieties remained critical to protecting farmer incomes and sustaining production.
“The T78 to T81 varieties were specifically bred for inherently dry and drought-prone environments and have demonstrated good adaptation under conditions of high temperatures and reduced rainfall,” said Dr Magama.
He said the varieties performed well during trials in Matabeleland North, Lower Gweru, Masvingo and Karoi, producing more than 2 500 kilogrammes per hectare under dry conditions and over 4 000 kilogrammes per hectare under optimum conditions, demonstrating their potential to sustain production despite increasingly variable climatic conditions.
