adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
MORE than 100 farmers have abandoned their plots at Somnene Irrigation Scheme in Bulilima District after failing to raise money to pay for electricity. In an interview during a tour of the fields on Wednesday, the chairperson of Somnene Irrigation Scheme, Mr Misheck Tshabalala said the scheme, with a capacity of 120 farmers, has only seven farmers left.
“The level of production at the irrigation scheme has been deteriorating over the years. It was once regarded as the bread basket of the community but it has now been reduced to nothing,” said Mr Tshabalala.
“This scheme opened over 25 years ago and it used it have 120 farmers but as of now it has only seven people as farmers continue to withdraw their activities.”
Mr Tshabalala said each farmer was being charged $11 an hour for electricity usage.
“The water which we use to water our crops is pumped from Mananda Dam which then feeds to a canal. The water then flows into our plots through gravitation system.
“Each farmer is expected to pay $11 per hour to cover electricity costs incurred while watering crops. These charges are way beyond the reach of most farmers. In a day I water my crops for about six hours and I do this twice a week which means I have to pay $132 for electricity in a week,” said Mr Tshabalala.
He said when the irrigation scheme opened it had been allocated more than 300 000 cubic metres of water but was receiving less than 30 000.
“The water which the irrigation scheme is using is a clear indication it is being under-utilised. We were initially allocated 365 000 cubic metres of water to ensure maximum production.
“However, in the past year we have been utilising less than 30 000 of this allocation. The reason being people are cutting down on the amount of water they use and because the amount of water we are receiving is low because of low supply of water from the dam,” said Mr Tshabalala.
He said the irrigation scheme mostly produced green mealies, tomatoes, vegetables, onions and sweet potatoes which farmers sell to earn a living.
Speaking at the same occasion, Bulilima Commercial Farmers Association chairperson Mr Obert Sibanda said farmers at Somnene Irrigation Scheme were the most affected by high electricity charges.
“Farmers at Somnene are experiencing high electricity charges compared to farmers operating at other irrigation schemes in the district because of their watering system.
“Tshankwa and Moza irrigation schemes use the gravitation system only but this particular irrigation first requires pumping of water which uses up a lot of electricity and then later gravitation,” said Mr Sibanda.
He said most irrigation schemes in the district had to be capacitated to adopt the modern way of watering crops.
The Member of Parliament for Bulilima East who was also present during the tour of the irrigation scheme, Cde Mathias Ndlovu, urged farmers to utilise the water sources they have to maximise their production.
Online Reporter