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Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Government has said there is need to work on improving the seed system in the country so that smallholder farmers and the market have the right seeds to positively contribute to the strategic grain reserves.
Zimbabwe plans to increase its strategic grain reserves to 1.5 million tonnes from 500 000 tonnes to cover two to three bad seasons.
Speaking at the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)’s 50 years celebrations and Seed Processing Unit commissioning at Matopos Research Station, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka, in a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy Minister Douglas Karoro last week, said future grains played a vital role in the country’s food security and nutrition.
“Future grains such as sorghum, pearl and finger millet are ranked second staple cereal crops after maize in Zimbabwe and play a vital role in the country’s food security and nutrition.
These future grains are less likely to fail in drought-prone areas and this makes them priority cereals to feed Zimbabwe especially in communities facing water.
It is also important, especially in the face of climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, to improve the country’s strategic grain reserves as already reviewed from 500 000 metric tonnes to 1,5 million metric tonnes to cover two to three bad seasons.”
He said future grains could therefore contribute to the strategic grain reserves and called upon ICRISAT to work closely with the Government and other key institutions including academia and the private sector to ensure the benefits of research quickly reach poorly resourced communal farmers and help Zimbabwe achieve a middle income economy by 2030.
The Minister said he was pleased that ICRISAT had modernised its seed processing, preparation and grain quality data collection facilities with state of the art machinery and equipment.
“I am happy to have commissioned the Seed Processing Unit today.
Efficient production of high quality seed for research is an important activity for modern breeding and gene bank programmes.
Only the best seed must be made available to breeders in every generation of varietal development for a breeding programme to meet its objectives.”
ICRISAT director general, Dr Jacqueline d’Arros Hughes said the agriculture sector had a crucial role to play in the long term development of most African countries and any strategy for sustained growth and poverty reduction must centre on rapid growth of the agriculture sector.
She said as ICRISAT moves forward into their next 50 years, they strongly believe partnerships are the only way in which global challenges can be tackled and the best local solutions created.
Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Abednico Ncube congratulated ICRISAT for being awarded the Africa Food Prize for 2021, with the award a deep validation of their work commitment towards better agriculture and food systems in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
“I am happy that ICRISAT does not only contribute to the development of the country but is also an active participant at provincial level, being part of the advisory committee l set up to spearhead the Provincial Economic Development Plan, which is in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and Vision 2030,” he said.
ICRISAT is an international non-profit organisation that undertakes specific research for development.
It was established in 1972 and is headquartered in India, with a foot print in both Africa and Asia.
The main aim of establishing ICRISAT was to address the problems of the looming food insecurity and nutrition in the region.
Through the SADC programmes, ICRISAT in Zimbabwe focuses on future grains improvement while ICRISAT Malawi focuses on groundnut improvement.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter