Story by Mercy Bofu-Matinha
FARMERS have been urged to safeguard their crops and reduce post-harvest losses as Zimbabwe anticipates a bumper harvest this season, thanks to favourable rainfall.
With harvesting already underway, authorities are encouraging best practices to ensure the season’s gains are maximised.
The Chingwe family of Vhurumuku Village in Masvingo, who adopted the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme in 2020, are among those celebrating the benefits of climate-smart agriculture.
“We started pfumvudza in 2020 with only two plots and we were charmed by the produce we got. Since then, we have been doing five or six plots of pfumvudza including traditional grains. This season we have started harvesting and given the good rains we received in this area, we expect a bumber harvest, enough for our family and surplus for sale to the Grain Marketing Board,” farmer, Mr Taruziva Chingwe said.
“Since we started the Pfumvudza programme, our lives have changed, we have been able to send our children to school, start various agriculture projects including poultry and goat projects. We are looking forward to expanding these projects such that we meet the demand of our market,” Mrs Grace Chingwe added.
A field day was held at the Chingwe homestead on Friday, hosted by a local seed producing company, where farmers from the area learnt good practices for the harvesting season.
“We are happy to see our communal farmers under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme excelling in terms of increasing their produce despite changes in climatic conditions.
“We continue to urge our farmers to choose crops that suit the areas they are in. Here in Masvingo, traditional grains are the best, especially in areas like Chivi, Mwenezi, Zaka and Chiredzi, and for maize given the impact of climate change, medium to early-maturity varieties remain the best. As seed houses we continue to come up with varieties that suit different communities,” Valley Seeds Commercial Director, Mr Tichaona Maponga said.
The government has expressed readiness to support farmers in maximizing the value of their crops.
“As we are going across the country we have realised that many farmers who planted early have started harvesting their crops and today we are now in Masvingo at one of the farmers who did very well under the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme.
“The crop is now ready for harvesting and we are happy that many farmers are here to learn how they can minimise post-harvest losses. As government through our agriculture extension workers we are ready to assist our communal farmers that they do not lose their produce,” Acting Chief Director of Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services, Mr Leonard Munamati said.
At the national level, the government is making significant strides in curbing post-harvest losses through the construction of state-of-the-art grain storage facilities, a development that is set to guarantee food security in the wake of climate change.
