adminBlessing Rwizi
A VUMBA coffee grower Mr Silas Chenherai Jack has added another feather on his cap when he was adjudicated and scooped the 2015 small-scale coffee grower of the year.
Coffee farming has been part of Zimbabwe’s agriculture with enormous potential to transform the living standards of farmer as well breathe life into the country’s economy.
For his efforts, Mr Jack walked away with a wheelbarrow, 6x50kg bags of Compound J fertiliser and a knapsack sprayer.
The prizes were jointly sponsored by the Zimbabwe Coffee Mill Ltd in partnership with Coffee Commodity Association of Zimbabwe.
Mr Freddy Chitsora of Vumba held the second position while Zachariya Tangwena from Honde Valley was third.
Mr Jack won the same award last year.
Lower Vumba is part of Mutare district whose weather patterns favour horticultural activities.
In an interview, Mr Jack said he ventured into coffee farming in 2011.
This followed the support from the Agricultural Partnership Trust.
By then he only had 500 coffee plants and today the plant population has grown to 6 000.
His yields saw a rapid growth over the recent years.
This year he harvested one and half tonnes, up from last year’s paltry 263kg.
Mr Jack attributed his success to hard working.
He believes his determination can contribute towards the betterment of the country’s coffee industry.
“I’m glad that my hard work has yielded these brilliant results and my success does not end here. My wife and I have a long-term plan to grow more coffee plants and this next year we are expecting between 2 and 3 tonnes. I’m going to extend my farming area with two more hectares this year,” said Mr Jack.
He added that his main challenge is lack of enough water to irrigate the plants.
“I’m appealing to the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations to assist me because I’m using cans and buckets to water each of the 6 000 plants. This is very difficult and it requires a lot of time. I can save time if I had means to irrigate using an electronically powered system,” he said.
Manicaland Agricultural Extension Officer, Mr Godfrey Mamhare described Mr Jack as an organised farmer who is set to take far the country’s coffee industry.
“The management at this plantation is up to the best standards and I was most impressed by the rapid improvement of this man’s yields from the time he started.
“I urge farmers around here to emulate this good work to boost the country’s national coffee production so that it meets the national demands,” said Mr Mamhare.
Online Reporter