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Edgar Vhera Agriculture Specialist Writer
FOLLOWING the extraordinary surge in export earnings from US$1 million in 2018 to US$14 million in 2022, good times beckon for the berries sub-sector, thanks to the introduction of a new variety that’s harvested twice a year.
Local business concern, Kuminda’s chief executive officer, Mr Clarence Mwale announced this new development recently.
Kuminda is a multi-national company founded in Zimbabwe and jointly owned by Messrs Mwale and Fred Matenga, whose main goal is to empower African farmers by linking them with international markets.
“Kuminda has signed an agreement for exclusive rights to Dutch breeder, Fruit Vision’s blueberries, which they’ll be the first to establish in Zimbabwe. The first plants are coming this June from Netherlands. This is set to maximise on Zimbabwe’s already massive advantage of being the only country in the southern hemisphere (and the world) to adopt the variety,” he said.
Mr Mwale said production of this variety suits smallholder farmers in cooperatives or individuals with small pieces of land and access to financing.
“We visited Onubafruit in Spain and saw blueberry production under cooperatives. A blueberry plantation can be owned by many families, even hundreds of families, who then employ professionals to run the business. This contrasts sharply to the model we have in Zimbabwe at the moment,” he explains.
Mr Mwale said Kuminda would also be the first to bring capital-intensive blueberries to Zimbabwean small-scale farmers.
The new blueberry variety has the added advantage of high yields of up to 65 tonnes per hectare up from the current 30 and it can be planted directly in the soil rather than in pots or in a trench filled with a growing medium in high density plantings.
The market for blueberries is vast and Kuminda has an offtake arrangement with Onuba Fruit company from Spain but will start with partnerships from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private sector.
Though the crop does well under cooperatives, the same cannot be said of communal areas where it will be done by individual growers. The current varieties are the earliest in the southern hemisphere that takes nine months for the trees to start producing fruit.
To kick-start the project, Kuminda will start with 20 of the targeted 100 hectares in Marondera with the final product being transported by air and sea depending on market demand. Blueberry is a high capital-intensive crop that requires technology and precision with its success hinging on partnerships with banks, local and diaspora investors.
Meanwhile, harvesting and export of blueberries has already started. The blueberry marketing season runs between April and October with 60 percent of the product harvested between August and October.
Zimbabwe’s unique selling proposition (USP) in the blueberry industry is its quality, taste and production time. The country’s blueberry fruit reaches the market in winter before its arch-rival Peru floods the market with its product.
Online Reporter