The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure : Senior Farming Reporter
WINTER wheat farmers have been assured of adequate water supply to irrigate the cereal crop which is now in the critical phases of heading, flowering and early grain-fill that requires at least four days of uninterrupted irrigation.
Wheat is highly sensitive to moisture deficits and more than before now requires uninterrupted irrigation.
Few farmers in Manicaland have planted the crop owing to its high cost of production and poor returns on investment.
The farmers are dotted around Mutasa district, parts of Chipinge, Chimanimani, Buhera, Nyanga and Makoni.
Some farmers planted the crop merely to improve their soil fertility and control diseases and not for profit.
In a weekly update, Agritex head for Manicaland, Mr Godfrey Mamhare, said the crop was healthy.
“Generally the crop is good and at this stage it requires a lot of water and we are happy that water in those areas is not yet a problem,” said Mr Mamhare.
Mr Mamhare urged farmers to guard wheat fields against birds.
Farmers usually employ many ingenious visual and oratory frightening techniques, barriers and scarecrows, among other bird suppression methods.
Under some circumstances, these methods can reduce damage, but their effectiveness is subject to such variables as the season of the year, the type and maturation stage of the crop, the pest species and its abundance, the size and ownership of the field, and the diligence and enthusiasm of the bird scarers.
The inability of farmers to consistently and successfully protect their crops from birds often leads to the destruction of the entire crop and subsequent abandoning of the crop.
While practical, economical and applicable solutions are needed by traditional farmers if future food production goals are to be met, it is, however, illegal for farmers to use toxic methods.
“At this stage, the crop is vulnerable to birds, and farmers should find permissible means to scare away them,” said Mr Mamhare.
He said farmers could use scarecrows built in human shape and erected in the field to scare away the birds.
Scarecrows can be moved around instead of being fixed at one spot.
Damage to cereal crops by birds has been a chronic problem to Zimbabwean wheat farmers for centuries.
Damage is mostly caused by the red-billed quelea birds. It is more difficult to frighten pest birds from dry-season irrigated crops than wet-season crops.
Areas under dry-season irrigated cultivation often provide the only seed, both cultivated and wild, and water in a region and, therefore, act as oasis to birds.
Zimbabwe needs about 400 000 tonnes of wheat per annum and this year’s wheat output will fall sharply to an unprecedented level, igniting fears that the cereal’s production was on the brink of extinction.
In recent years, the country failed to produce half of its annual requirement despite wheat being an important cereal crop that contributes to the diet of the general populace, especially with regards to bread which is eaten as a major part of breakfast.
In the past years, the country has been importing about 300 000 tonnes of wheat to meet annual internal consumption requirements.
Economists have correctly pointed out that a deficit in wheat harvests was bad for Zimbabwe as it would mean Government will have to commit more funds towards importation of the cereal grain.
