Ministry equips extension officers

gap created by the workers who left the country for greener pastures.
Secretary for Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Mr Ngoni Masoka, said the ministry was now embarking on an educational programme to fully equip extension officers with adequate knowledge.
Mr Masoka said officers who hold certificates would now be offered diploma courses.
“Some farmers were not comfortable dealing with these officers but we are going to train them further so they can effectively discharge their duties,” Mr Masoka said.
He said every extension officer would be given a farm management handbook to use.
“The handbook used to belong to supervisors only but we are going to distribute the handbooks to every officer,” he said.
The handbook contains information on crop production, animal production and farm budgets among other farming topics.
This handbook, Mr Masoka said, would ensure that every extension officer is able to attend to any type of farmer and offer appropriate advice.
Besides offering further training to extension officers, the ministry is also working towards improving transport facilities.
“Mobility has been a problem faced by most extension officers who sometimes fail to visit farmers but soon, every officer will get a motorbike,” he said.
The ministry has also retained some experts who had retired from the industry.
“Former Agritex director and Permanent Secretary for Agriculture, Dr Shadreck Mlambo, former director of the Department of Research and Specialist Services, Dr Regina Gata and former director of Veterinary Services, Dr Welbourne Madzima have been retained by the ministry as technical advisers.
Agritex mobilises the agricultural sector of Zimbabwe for increased and sustainable agricultural production and, provide appropriate agricultural technical, professional and other support services to the agricultural industry.