Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
DEEP in Mahlathini Village, Ward 27 in Nkayi District, a young couple is leading a cash crop revolution whose produce is sold to local businesses, surrounding communities, schools, the district hospital and commuters passing through the area.
Mr Vusa Lexson Tshabalala (35) and his wife, Mrs Perseverance Tshabalala (32) have been praised by the Agricultural Extension Services (Agritex) as one of the leading farmers in Nkayi who have transformed their communal land into a thriving agricultural venture.
Officials from Agritex, the local leadership and villagers gathered at the couple’s homestead last week in Mahlathini Village for a field day to celebrate the farming achievements of the young couple, whose transformation of a semi-arid land to a mini green belt is defying long-held perceptions that Nkayi is a dry region that cannot produce cash crops.
A thriving combination of sugar beans, tomatoes, cabbages, sweet potatoes and maize crops were on display in the fields of the Tshabalala homestead.
Mr Tshabalala said he quit his job as a general hand at the local Veterinary Services in 2021 after seven years of dedicated service to venture into farming.
“Before I quit my job in 2021, I realised that Nkayi faces a shortage of sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, green pepper and butternut that come from Lower Gweru, Bulawayo and Nyanga because the general belief is that our soils are not suitable for farming those crops,” he said.
“I have always had an interest in farming, so quitting my job to venture into full-time agriculture was not a hard decision to make.”
Nkayi soils are generally sandy in a dry semi-arid region that receives minimal rainfall. By his own admission, the soil in his homestead and surrounding areas presented a not-so-pleasant prospect of growing cash crops. But being a man who was determined to turn his dream into reality, he made the decision to change the composition of the soil in his fields by adding cow dung manure that he acquired from local cattle pens, as well as adding maize stalks into the fields.
It was back-breaking work, but he did not give up.
“One does not need huge tracts of land to grow cash crops, so I started with cabbages planted on a small piece of land. Over the last three years, I have increased the size of my fields and grown a variety of cash crops such as sweet potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, potatoes and sugar beans,” he said.
Rain-fed farming can hardly sustain cash crops agriculture, hence he added drip irrigation for all year-round activities.
Mr Tshabalala says he would not have been a successful farmer without the support of his wife, who believed in his vision from the start.
“It’s not an easy decision to quit a job that pays a guaranteed monthly salary to chase a dream that can either succeed or fail, but my wife has always been by my side,” he said.
Mrs Tshabalala said their lives revolve around farming all year round.
“It’s important to make decisions as a team and as a wife, I make sure that I support my husband, even if my idea is just a dream that he believes can change our lives,” she said.
“Farming has turned us from employees to employers, and my advice to young people with land is to make sure they have adequate water before venturing into cash crop farming,” said Mrs Tshabalala.
Mrs Nomsa Sibanda, an Agritex officer in Nkayi District said the Tshabalala couple are an inspiration to the people of Nkayi to venture into cash crop farming.
“This was barren land when Mr Tshabalala started his farming project. I started working with him three years ago when a few people believed that he could run a successful cash crop farming venture, but through hard work and perseverance, he is counted among some of the best young farmers in Nkayi,” said Mrs Sibanda.
