The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure Farming Reporter
SO far 27 100 farmers in Manicaland have expressed interest to take up maize production under command agriculture, a specialised maize production scheme aimed at enhancing food security in the country.
Of these, 4 000 farmers, with a combined 16 000 hectares are keen to produce maize under irrigation, while 24 000, with a cumulative 24 300ha have registered to plant under dry land.
The take up therefore stands at 40 300ha out of the targeted 65 000ha that the province has earmarked for the programme, in which farmers will be linked to some private stakeholders for funding and inputs, with Government coming in as the guarantor.
The private sector will come on board and assist with the finance and distribution of inputs at fair prices at the farmer’s doorstep.
Farmers will first have their farms assessed before signing binding contracts following which they will be supplied with fertilisers, chemicals, seed maize optimised for the climates of one’s respective region and financial package for labour and other overheads.
The assistance rendered under the programme is not for free as beneficiaries will be expected to pay through a stop-order facility after selling their produce.
The farmers should have capacity to produce at least five tonnes of maize per hectare, hence the emphasis on functioning irrigation infrastructure and agronomic competences.
Provincial Agritex officer for Manicaland, Mr Godfrey Mamhare, on Wednesday said verification of the farms would begin this week.
“The demand for inclusion in the programme is overwhelming, but it is not going to be free-for-all. We are going to deploy teams throughout the province to vet the 27 000 farmers who have so far registered and see which ones qualify,” said Mr Mamhare.
The ground truthing teams – comprising of personnel from key agriculture stakeholders will verify the existence of competent irrigation infrastructure, hectarage, water reservoirs, electricity, implements, production and credit records and farmers’ capacity among other essentials for one to qualify.
Beneficiaries are expected to have been provided with the required inputs before October 1, 2016.
“The prime target are those farmers with well to do irrigation infrastructure and those who can produce under dry land in natural regions one, two and to some extent region three,” said Mr Mamhare.
Farmers in natural regions four and five will not be considered.
Severe weather vagaries last year have destroyed livelihoods of farmers in drier parts of Chipinge, Buhera and Mutare districts and a portion of Makoni South where some could not till their land since it was not worthwhile.
Few farmers in these drought-prone districts had planted and the crop was irreversibly damaged by the El Nino-induced drought before reaching maturity, resulting in the province failing to produce enough to meet the food requirements of its growing population.
“It is unfortunate because those areas are not ideal for maize production,” said Mr Mamhare.
Last season the province put 240 000 hectares under maize, but the staple crop succumbed to the El Nino-induced drought before reaching maturity.
Zimbabwe’s agriculture is currently facing serious challenges of productivity.
In recent years, productivity declined drastically due to successive droughts which resulted in the country failing to feed itself.
The other challenge has been the mentality of farmers, which is more self-enriching than a business one with responsibility to provide nation with sustainable food security.
Government also needs to provide an enabling environment through clear policy goals and commensurate investments in infrastructure, mechanisation, training, education and information cannot be underestimated.
Banks should be adequately capitalised and capacitated to finance agriculture at commercial level as no farmer can produce at commercial level with own resources.
Inputs must be readily available at the right cost and time to meet the requirements of farmers.
