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Elton Manguwo
THE Government has plans to put 420 000 hectares of land under irrigation by 2024, as the need to produce crops under irrigation keeps growing, thanks to the ever-shifting weather patterns due to climate change.
“To this end Government is investing in 12 high-impact dam construction projects to increase the area under irrigation with a target of 420 000 hectares by 2024,” Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka said this in a speech delivered on his behalf by his deputy Vangelis Haritatos.
Dr Masuka added that the Government was also implementing the Presidential Horticulture Recovery Plan, which will see solar powered boreholes being drilled in each of the 35 000 villages in the country to complement the dam construction project.
“If we are to guard against the effects of climate change we need to move more towards irrigation development, as it is vital to ensuring food security in the country. The Government through the department of irrigation is therefore implementing various projects under the National Enhanced Agriculture productivity scheme (NEAPS),” said Minister Masuka.
The idea of increasing the hectarage under irrigation from the initial target of 350 000ha to 420 000ha demonstrates the Government’s commitment to creating a modern, sustainable and viable smart agricultural sector, observed Dr Masuka.
Additionally, an expanded hectarage under irrigation will be crucial in championing the attainment of the Vision 2030 objective of an empowered and prosperous upper-middle-income economy as well as achieving National Development Strategy (NDS1) targets.
The Government created the Irrigation Development Alliance as a vigorous framework that seeks to promote investment in irrigation expansion by supporting partnerships between financial institutions, irrigation companies and farmers.
The programme is part of Government’s efforts to create an enabling environment for accelerated growth through enhancing irrigation development’s viability and effectiveness to build the country’s resilience to vulnerabilities and shocks that come as a result of climate change
“The country has about 220 000ha equipped with irrigation infrastructure out of which 185 000ha are being utilised marking a capacity utilisation of 84 percent. Full time crops such as sugarcane, citrus and tea among other crops grown by commercial estates, sit on 100 000ha of the functional irrigated land amplifying the need for more irrigable land,” director in the Department of Irrigation Development engineer Bezzel Chitsungo commented.
Irrigation farming can help farmers diversify their farming operations thereby allowing them to do all-year-round farming rather than seasonal.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter