Story by Tafara Chikumira
Government’s public and private partnerships (PPPs) continue to bear fruit with Mutange Irrigation Scheme in Gokwe writing its own piece of history after registering a significant contribution to the country’s winter wheat production this season.
Gokwe South District, which is traditionally known for cotton farming due to its unfavourable climatic conditions, is fast changing the narrative of farming in the country after putting 100 hectares under winter wheat which has now reached the harvesting stage.
Due to good agronomic practices, the scheme is anticipating an average of seven tonnes per hectare thanks to the expertise and financial support from the private partner at the scheme.
“The quality of the harvest of the crop, which we have managed to get here in Mutange is unbelievable. The President said the country is supposed to be developed by its people, so we take a cue from there. You can find the little you can do. We have 100 hectares of wheat and 32 of maize, which we are expecting to harvest by the beginning of November. When we embarked on this project, we had some irrigation water problems from the dam, but now we have managed to buy 2 pumps, and we are going to repair the third one, we made the right electrical configurations, and we put more effort on the engineering side so that we make the whole farm have access to water distribution, so I think after this harvest, when we get paid, we also buy another pump. We hope things are going to be better next season,” said Brain Child Farms partner, Dr Solomon Matsa.
The Midlands Province is hopeful of making a significant contribution to the country’s wheat output this season following the revival of several irrigation schemes under the Second Republic’s rural industrialisation model as explained by ARDAS Midlands Province director, Mrs Olga Mavhakeni.
“This is the first of its kind here at Mutange irrigation scheme. In the past, they used to have challenges in terms of water and pumping systems, but this year everything went well. There are 200 hectares under production. In the Province, we have 12,000 hectares under wheat, we stand at 102 per cent of our target, and we are expecting to get over 60,000 metric tonnes. The success we see is also a result of partnerships with private players that the government has been advocating for over the years,” she said.
Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Honourable Owen Ncube commended the transformative initiative in Gokwe South, saying the public and private partnership at the scheme resonates well with aspirations of the Second Republic’s development trajectory.
“The flourishing 2024 winter wheat here at Mutange irrigation scheme is attributed to Presidential inputs support, installation of new pumps by ZINWA, uninterrupted power supply by ZETDC, Government technical support as well as provision of tillage implements. Timely land preparation, provision of fuel and adequate labour by the joint venture partner, Brainchild Farms have made this scheme a success. We are grateful to the Second Republic for the development mantra of leaving no one and no place behind as previously marginalized dry regions like Gokwe South, Gokwe North and Mberengwa are now producing wheat and maize under irrigation. This achievement was never imagined in the past,” he said.
The government is anticipating a harvest of more than 600 000 tonnes of wheat against the country’s requirements of 360 000 tonnes after the Second Republic made deliberate efforts towards maximising the production of the essential crop through various initiatives.
