admin
Midlands Correspondent
THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) needs at least $100 million to be fully capitalised and restore viability.
Arda has 21 estates that are 98,000 hectares in extent with an irrigable capacity of 19,000 hectares.
In an effort to breathe life into Arda farms to ensure productivity, the government has resolved to cede some of the estates to private players with the latest being Fair Acres Estates in Silobela, which has been taken over by Northern Farming on a five-year renewable contract.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Davis Marapira confirmed the government does not have the capacity to revive Arda farms alone hence the decision to partner private players to ensure the farms were productive.
“We’ve entered into public private partnerships with investors to ensure there is production on these Arda farms so that the country can be self-sustainable in terms of food security in the future,” he said.
“Most of the equipment needed at these estates has been vandalised and the government alone doesn’t have capacity to revive the farms.
“If you look at it we’ve over 20 Arda farms and this would need about $100 million to ensure they operate viably.”
Fair Acres has already seen 460 hectares being planted soya beans with 300 hectares expected to be put under maize.
A further 650 hectares has already been prepared for the winter wheat crop.
The government has in the past ceded part of Arda estates to Seed Co in a bid to improve the country’s seed output, which had plummeted over the years.
Arda Halsteads and Arda Amuritsir near Shamva are some of the farms ceded to Seed Co for the company’s own seed production.
Online Reporter