adminFungai Lupande Mash Central Bureau
A Mazowe citrus farmer, Colonel Crisden Kanouruka of Zanadu Farm in Mazowe, has lost a quarter of his harvest as the majority of his customers stay out of the province and have been failing to travel due to the lockdown.
Col Kanouruka said he is also having to spend more on hiring csual workers to remove the rotten fruits to control fruit flies.
He has 6 000 plants of navel oranges and naartjies on eight hectares, which are the highest paying produce at his farm.
He also exports his oranges to Zambia.
“This is the time when we start selling oranges. People come from as far as Bulawayo but they are now failing to reach the farm,” he said.
“Our total harvest is 40 tonnes per hectare and so far we have lost a quarter. We have approached relevant authorities about the challenge but our customers are individuals who buy for resale.
Immune system
‘‘Our major market is the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) but they are closed.”
He said the loss was unfortunate since oranges are very nutritious and they provide Vitamin C, which boosts the immune system, and is critical in the fight against Covid-19.
The farmer, who also operates a bakery that supplies bread and buns to locals at an affordable price, said he had also scaled down production from 1 000 to 200 loaves per day due to the lockdown.
He said he was failing to deliver bread to Glendale and Mvurwi town because of the restrictions on movement
The bakery has a capacity to produce 170 loaves every 25 minutes.
Despite the setback, Col Kanouruka was upbeat about other operations at the farm where he has 32 hectares under winter wheat, 30 hectares under soya- beans, 30 hectares under seed maize and 15 hectares under commercial maize and wheat.
Online Reporter