Rains bring hope to urban farmers

TORRENTIAL rains, recorded in some parts of the Midlands province over the past few days have rekindled hope for local farmers, some of whom have started planting while others are finalising land preparation.

Districts such as Gweru, Shurugwi, Mberengwa and Zvishavane have been experiencing heavy rains almost daily bringing relief to farmers most of whom had delayed planting their crops.

The rains are coming at a time when over a million villagers in the Midlands province have successfully potholed their plots under the Government-funded Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme.

Farmers across the province were trained in conservation agriculture popularly known as the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa.

Farmers in the Midlands province who participated in the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme during the 2022/23 season recorded a good harvest as their crops were not affected by the dry spell.

This year, the programme is supporting five Pfumvudza/Intwasa plots per household with an agro-ecological region-specific crop input package for maize, sorghum, pearl millet, soya beans, sunflower, groundnuts, vegetables and African peas.

Government distributed agricultural inputs under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme to match the agro-ecological regions to ensure optimum production and guarantee food security and an income for all families.

Midlands provincial agronomist, Mr Innocent Dzuke said the rains had come as a huge relief to some farmers across the province.

“Farmers are planting, but due to uneven rainfall distribution, it’s affecting maize planting. We have over a million farmers in the province who were trained on Pfumvudza/ Intwasa ahead of the summer cropping season. So the rains are coming as a relief to the farmers,” he said.

Mr Dzuke said last year, a total of 1 070 025 farmers received Pfumvudza/Intwasa training and subsequently potholed their fields.

Chief Ngungumbane from Mberengwa District said villagers were busy working on their fields following the rains.

“Mberengwa has been receiving average rainfall over the past three days. Farmers who had not finished land preparations are busy in their fields,” he said.

Mr Ronnie Chigombe, a sales agronomist at SeedCo, urged farmers to finish planting as soon as possible.

“Farmers planting maize should consider short-season varieties that mature early. We urge others to plant short season traditional grain varieties,” he said.

Mr Foster Nduku, an urban farmer from Mkoba Village 6, said he has been busy working on his piece of land capitalising on the heavy rains that pounded the city.

“The rains have come as a relief to us farmers because now we can finish planting,” he said.