daniel chigunwe
Edgar Vhera
Agriculture Specialist Writer
EFFORTS to curb poverty deaths in livestock have gone a gear up with 335 668 households benefitting from pasture legumes availed under the Presidential Input Scheme (PIS) since inception in 2021.
The PIS pasture legume scheme is a joint venture initiative between the Government and Europe Africa Seed Initiative (EASI Seed) with latter coming is as the supplier of velvet bean, lablab and sun hemp seed. Farmers can access seed to plant from their nearest Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Ministry’s Livestock Production Department director, Dr Sitokozile Sibanda yesterday urged farmers to visit their nearest GMB depots to get seed for pasture legumes to plant with the current rains. This will serve as supplementary feed during lean periods to save livestock from poverty deaths.
“A total of 147 680 farmers have received velvet bean seed, while 116 140 were supported with lablab while 71 848 received sun hemp since the programme’s inception in 2021. We call upon farmers to intensify planting of these pasture legumes as supplementary feed for their livestock during the dry season,” Dr Sibanda said.
In addition to these seeds, farmers also get basal and top-dressing fertilisers. These high-yielding pasture legumes have broad leaves for hay making. They are harvested while they are still green and stored in shed for use during off season. Farmers can also engage in commercial fodder production. Fodder yield ranges from one to eight tonnes per hectare. Processing involves drying, shelling, trash removal and packaging.
EASI Seed country sales marketing manager Mr Justice Mupotsa said the pasture programme, which was now in its third year was crucial to save livestock from deaths during the lean season.
“Government and EASI Seed have partnered to provide three types of pasture legumes – velvet bean, lablab and sun hemp as alternative protein sources during the dry period from August to December. The five-year programme involves distribution and planting of these short season varieties that mature in two months,” he said.
EASI Seed also conducts farmer trainings on fodder production, good agronomic practices, harvesting, processing, storage and animal feeding.
“We encourage every farmer to plant the pasture legumes. Next season we are introducing pasture grasses, which they can plant on contours or in spaces between fields. Pasture legumes provide a good ground cover, improve soil structure and promote soil conservation,” he added.
Pasture legumes have good nutritional value, digestibility, palatability and are high-yielding compared to natural veld.
Mr Mupotsa revealed that pasture legumes were easy to manage, productive and drought resistant and over 300 000 farmers were targeted for the programme in the country’s eight rural provinces.
Reports say at least 49 cattle died last week from the effects of poor pastures and rainfall induced by the El Niño in Midlands, Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South bringing the number of cattle that have succumbed to the effects of El Niño in the past year to 9 875. Increased fodder production will alleviate more poverty deaths in coming years.
Online Reporter