Vusumuzi Dube
Sharon Chimenya, Masvingo Correspondent
THE national seed fair has kicked off today (Tuesday) in Masvingo province with the aim of helping farmers with climate proofed mechanisms and seed varieties that are best suited for their region.
The two day fair will be held at Charumbira business centre (Ward 12) and Njovo dam (Ward 18) respectively and will showcase variety of seeds that are climate adapted to predominantly Zimbabwe region 3, 4 and 5.
The programme which is led by the international Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre funded by the United States Agency for International development (USAID), the world food program (WFP) and the Swiss Agency for development cooperation (SDC), is designed to promote the engagement between farmers and the private sector.
In an interview, Agritex supervisor for Wards 10 and 11, Mr Caleb Mnkandla said that the event will ensure that the farmers get the best seed varieties from reputable seed house and help improve their yields.
“This event is of great importance to the local community as it gives farmers opportunities to access seed directly from seed companies, chemicals and fertiliser manufacturers and distributors amongst other related products and services,” said Mr Mnkandla.
He said usually for farmers to get the best varieties that are best adapted and suited to their local environment, they have to travel long distances to towns and cities which is not cost effective for them.
Mr Mnkandla said the limited options for certified seeds from local remote agro dealers makes the seed fair an important event for farmers.”
“The past events are bearing fruits on the production systems as the farmers were able to select varieties suited for their regions through interactions with seed breeders which resulted in decent harvests compared to those who did not attend the events.”
Innovation Science Leader Africa principal cropping systems agronomist, Dr Christian Lutz said the information sharing has increased the number of farmers using climate-smart ripping systems to more than 6 percent with an increasing trend.
He said in previous events farmers have purchased close to 2 000kg of drought tolerant seed, enough to plant on 80 hectares and such, adoption can only get better with the passing of every event.
“This seed fair will help smallholder farmers adapt better to the adverse effects of climate change as there will be extensive promotion of climate smart technologies such as conservation agriculture, drought-tolerant seed and appropriate-scale mechanization. Research results show that farmers can increase yields by 30 percent,” he said.
Some of the companies that are part of the fair include Seedco, Mukushi Seeds, K2, Windmill, ZFC, Kurima machinery, Zimbabwe Super Seeds and Agriseeds among others.
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