ZPCS in bumper wheat harvest

Precious Manomano and Conrad Mupesa

Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) is expecting a bumper wheat harvest from over 160 hectares under the cereal on its farms countrywide.

So far, Hurungwe Prison Farm has 90ha under wheat and experts are projecting a yield of four tonnes per hectare.

This year’s winter wheat will be produced from 90 192ha which is 100 percent of the target area of 90 000ha, compared to 80 000 hectares last year, ensuring that Zimbabwe will not only exceed the self-sufficiency attained last year for the first time ever, but should have wheat for export.

This harvest is expected to produce 420 000 tonnes of the cereal, well above the 375 000 tonnes achieved last year and the minimum of 360 000 tonnes needed for self-sufficiency.

Speaking after touring Hurungwe Prison Farm, ZPCS Commissioner General Moses Chihobvu said the Government was supporting the country to produce enough food.

“We are contributing well to the nation because we are receiving support on other issues so that we do well in our production. This farm is 1 700 hectares and the arable land is about 1 000ha.

“The moment we get support to resuscitate irrigation, we need to expand hectarage under wheat in Hurungwe, Mazowe and Kadoma.

He said support to resuscitate the irrigation system was key to fighting the adverse impacts of climate change.

“The more we get support to resuscitate the irrigation facilities, we can be able to use the whole arable land. We contribute a lot as an institution to the food security and economy of the nation and, we are grateful to the Government for its unwavering support.

“We hope to get support again from the Government to satisfy the farm’s irrigation demands including with the supply of towable centre pivots,” he said.

Hurungwe Prison Farm is also involved in horticultural production and their larger markets are Chinhoyi and Karoi.

All prisons are expected to embark in bakery following abundance of wheat which they will harvest in a few days.

A visit by The Herald to various farming communities revealed that farmers in Hurungwe were determined to turn around the fortunes of the country through making agriculture an engine for development.

Farmers in the province are keen to show that locals have the capacity to surpass the benchmark set by the former farmers.

In the face of adverse of climate change and low rainfall patterns, officials at the Hurungwe Prison Farm located 40 kilometres west of Karoi have mooted to expand land under irrigation to fight the effects.

While ZPCS is managing to use 400 hectares of the Hurungwe Prison Farm’s 1 000ha arable land, only 95ha are under irrigation.

The farm has a total hectarage of 1 729 with the other portion used for cattle ranching and other activities.

Hurungwe Prison’s chief farm manager, Principal Correctional Officer Happison Masocha, said they had plans to expand the irrigation area.

“We have 1 000 hectares that is arable and 400 is currently being utilised for both irrigation and dry land. Out of this, only 95 is under irrigation.

“About 70 hectares of sprinkler irrigation equipment needs revamping and a few things are needed for that area to be used,” he said.

A team from the irrigation department has been to the farm to assess the capacity of the farm which is surrounded by two vast water bodies and various underground water source points.

“The department did a survey and a feasibility study that showed we can add the irrigable area by 346 hectares to make it 441 hectares,” added PCO Masocha.

The farm has also faced the challenges of a broken-down pump that made it impossible to supply its crops with the required moisture content.

“If we twin this pump, it means, we will be able to sufficiently feed our crop with enough required moisture. We assure you that we will be able to increase our tonnage,” he added.

The Hurungwe Prison Farm is expected to harvest four tonnes of wheat per hectare and above eight tonnes of maize per hectare under irrigation.

Inmate Winners Mukangaza said the prison had transformed him through giving life skills which would improve his life after serving his sentence.