President urges farmers to harness rains

utilisation of the country’s natural resources, President Mugabe has said.
Speaking during the National Tree Planting Day at Milton High in Bulawayo yesterday, President Mugabe said more trees are being cut for both industrial and domestic use.
Over 300 000 hectares of forests are lost to human activities while 90 000 hectares have been destroyed in veld fires this year.
President Mugabe said more trees are being cut as people from urban areas have resorted to using firewood during power outages.
“We are also aware that industries use wood for their furniture while farmers use wood to treat their tobacco.
“Some farmers have also destroyed forests in their bid to utilise more land on their farms,” he said.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces however, encouraged farmers to harness the rains that are received in Zimbabwe every year.
“We have favourable rainy conditions and every year the rains give us water that we however, fail to harness in dams and it flows to bigger rivers and ultimately the oceans.
“There is need to harness that water so that farmers can fully utilise the water in dams for irrigation purposes and they would utilise small pieces of land for agriculture purposes,” he said.
President Mugabe gave an example of the Israeli-inspired drip irrigation that uses less water.
“What we have in our environment is very precious and it becomes more precious when it is compared to the deserts,” he said.
This year’s Tree Planting Day coincide with the United Nations International Year of Forests and was held under the theme, “Forests for the people”.
President Mugabe hailed the theme indicating that it captures the symbiotic relations between people and the forests.
“Let’s teach our people and our children that trees should not be cut because this has led to the disappearance of rainforests in some countries of Europe,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Mugabe commended the relations between Zimbabwe and China.
Speaking after commissioning the NetOne Broadband and Ascot Mobile Switching Centre and Packet Switch Call for Bulawayo, he said the illegal and unjustified sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe had affected development in the country.
He lauded the Look East Policy for helping Zimbabwe overcome these challenges.
“As a sovereign nation we have friends who have supported us during the liberation struggle and these are the same people who have come to our rescue when the West turned its back on us,” he said.
He said China had become Zimbabwe’s major economic ally especially in the supply of wares for agriculture, mining, clothing and motor industries.
“We will continue to Look East and the policy has shown that we were right to turn to the East when the West turned their backs on us,” he said.