admin
Ellen Chasokela Herald Reporter
Government is set to come up with a horticulture department to ensure the sector is cushioned through policies and strategies aimed at transforming agriculture from subsistence to commercial farming, a senior Government official has said.
Addressing farmers at Seed Co Stapleford Vegetable trial station mega field day recently, Secretary for Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Engineer Ringson Chitsiko said the shift from subsistence to commercial farming was fundamental in the development of the rural economy to achieve sustainable inclusive economic growth.
“We live in a fabulously wealthy nation called Zimbabwe, where creative policy development, implementation and delivery will radically transform our economy to greater heights, not witnessed before,” he said.
“It is for this reason that Zimbabwe, guided by Vision 2030, has identified the horticultural space as one of the key sectors to deliver 10 percent annual economic growth envisaged under the economic pillar.
“Vegetable production is an all year round, lucrative option on the farm, with quick returns on investment. Shifting dietary patterns also continue to increase demand for healthy foods such as vegetables.”
Mr Chitsiko urged farmers to grow vegetables as the demand continued to increase.
“Grow vegetables, to grow incomes,” he said. “Other vegetable crops such as peas can be specifically targeted for exports, earning the country the much needed foreign currency.
“Growing a variety of crops on the farm will maximise on land and water efficiency, but all this starts with sowing the right certified quality seed.”
Mr Chitsiko hailed SeedCo for being the market leader in the production and supply of a wide range of improved vegetable varieties in Zimbabwe.
“l applaud SeedCo for the tremendous work they are doing in the agriculture industry; to ensure food and nutritional security through seed security and more importantly their contribution to our broader agro-based economy,” he said.
“We are all gathered here to share the same sentiment that this good looking piece of work is being exhibited from a Pan African seed company with Zimbabwean roots, that is working extremely well in its efforts to continue to offer a comprehensive assortment of products that meet the current market demands, both local and export.
“I would, therefore, always encourage the company to continue with the collaborative research efforts with their strategy partners notably HM Clause so as to leverage on their global exposure and take advantage of the facilities and skills they possess.”
Seed Co’s agronomy and extension services manager, Dr John Basera, said vegetable farming was a sensitive area, hence the need for good agronomic practices.
“Vegetable play a critical role on spreading cash flows on the farm, you cannot have a smoothly run farming business without several income streams, so we need vegetables in that regard so that you can supplement your income on the farm,” he said.
“It becomes a challenge when a farmer waits for a year to sell their produce, so vegetables enable a smooth flow of income because you can sell them daily or weekly. Vegetables have lucrative quick returns on investments.
“So, to take farming as a business, a farmer should always send something to the market once every week or monthly, daily the better and merrier for the farmer so that you can be able to have that smooth flow of income. We need crop diversity.”
Online Reporter