In the face of an El Nino phenomenon this season, farmers have been called upon to consider agro-ecological tailoring of crops and following all the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa best practices to avoid losses.
This comes after many farmers in Masvingo who planted early this season have been left counting loses following the prolonged dry spell.
Mr Jerifanos Marasha of Chivi is among those farmers, but he remains optimistic of the future as he plans to grow traditional grains and other crops under the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa programme.
“As a team, we are used to plant with the first rains, but this time around we were caught offside. However, we continue to prepare our fields, given that we are in the dry region we are looking forward to grow a lot of traditional grains,” he said.
The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka, who visited Mwenezi, Chiredzi and Chivi districts this Thursday, called upon farmers to continue preparing for the 2023/24 season, pledging government support.
“We are saying to all our farmers, all the Pfumvudza/ Intwasa tenets ought to be followed and we need agro-ecological tailoring of crops, so that crops that are grown in a region are determined by the region and not what the farmer wants. We are going to support farmers who lost their crop that they are able to replant as we are expecting rains in the coming week,” said the Minister.
Government has already distributed inputs to all irrigation schemes across Masvingo Province and they are also targeting to support individual farmers who irrigate their crops for improved yields.
Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Hon Ezra Chadzamira said: “We want to thank our government for supporting all irrigation schemes across the province through availing inputs for maize. Again we want to support individual farmers who irrigate such that we increase our maize hectarage.”
Government is supporting more than three million smallholder farmers under the climate proof Pfumvudza/ Intwasa Programme as part of efforts towards ensuring food security at household level.
Source ZBC news
