Online Reporter
Professor Obert Jiri
Ahead of a possible El Niño-affected summer cropping season, research must lead our response.
WE cannot wait for the drought to arrive and then start looking for solutions.
We must use the scientific information available to us to anticipate the risks and prepare farmers before the 2026/2027 summer cropping season begins.
If we are expecting a season that may have below-normal rainfall, our researchers must be asking what that means for our crops, livestock, soils, water resources, pests and diseases.
We need research-based responses that tell us what crops to plant, which varieties are likely to perform better, when they should be planted and what agronomic practices can help farmers conserve and use limited water efficiently.
Seed research
Our seed researchers must ask whether the varieties available to farmers are adequate for the climatic conditions we are likely to face.
If they are not, then research must give us something better.
We need varieties that can withstand water stress, mature within shorter periods where necessary, use water efficiently and still give us acceptable yields under difficult conditions.
But we must be scientific about this.
We cannot simply call a variety drought-tolerant or climate-smart.
We must test it under different environments and generate the data that demonstrates its performance.
The private sector is producing seed, and that is important, but Government research must continue to push the boundaries.
We should not only be evaluating what is already available on the market.
We must be developing the next generation of varieties for the climatic conditions that are coming.
Livestock research
Our livestock researchers must look at animals that can perform under the climatic conditions that we are now facing, including heat, feed shortages and water stress.
We applaud the qualities of the Mashona cattle.
They have served our farmers well from time immemorial and are well adapted to our environment.
But we must challenge our researchers and ask: Can we do better?
Can we develop a breed that retains the adaptability and resilience of the Mashona but gives the farmer better productivity?
Can we have more meat, more milk or better growth while retaining the ability to survive under our conditions?
That is the challenge for our scientists.
We cannot simply be satisfied with what we have because it has worked for generations.
The changing climate requires us to ask what the next generation of livestock should look like.
We, therefore, need proper breeding programmes, genetics, performance recording and scientific trials to identify animals that can give farmers better returns while remaining resilient to our climatic conditions.
Collaboration
We must not research in a vacuum.
Collaborative research is essential with universities and the private sector.
Climate change is not a problem for one discipline.
We need crop scientists, livestock scientists, soil scientists, climatologists, plant pathologists, entomologists and other specialists working together where necessary.
The solutions must come from research into the actual problems that our farmers are facing.
Research that is not documented and shared has limited value to the country.
We must be able to show what our scientists are researching, what they are discovering and how those findings can contribute to solving the problems facing agriculture.
We have publications such as the “Book of Abstracts: Agricultural Research and Extension Symposium Proceedings”, which brought together research presented during the March 1-2, 2023, symposium.
We need to see more of these publications coming out of our research institutions.
The volume and quality of what we publish should also help us assess whether research within Government institutions is being taken seriously as an instrument for national development.
We must be able to look back and say: This is what our researchers have been working on, these are the problems they have investigated, these are the solutions they have generated and this is the impact those solutions are having.
Output
We must look at our research outputs as assets.
Where our researchers have developed viable innovations, we must protect and commercialise them.
Our research institutions must not only depend on Government funding.
They must be able to identify innovations that can generate resources which can then support further research, infrastructure and laboratory requirements.
Commercialisation does not mean compromising research.
It means ensuring that where research produces something of value, that value is captured and used to strengthen the research system.
In this era of digital technologies, innovations must also be premised on digital platforms to ensure that we remain relevant.
We need to use climate data, modelling, remote sensing, artificial intelligence and other digital tools to understand what is happening and improve the accuracy of our decisions.
The more data we have, the better we can understand our production systems and anticipate risks.
Our scientists must, therefore, embrace these technologies as tools for research and decision-making.
Research must provide solutions.
We must ensure that what we develop does not remain in laboratories or research stations.
If a researcher develops a better seed, breed or technology, we must be able to validate it scientifically, protect it where necessary, commercialise it and get it to the farmer.
Our research must respond to the conditions of our country.
If the climate is changing, then our science must change with it.
For the 2026/2027 season, our researchers must, therefore, be asking themselves a very simple question: What can science do today to ensure that a farmer can still produce tomorrow, even when the rainfall is not favourable?
Prof Obert Jiri is Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development. He was speaking to Zimpapers Reporter Theseus Muriuki Shambare.
