The Sunday News
Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority is targeting 75 000 tonnes of maize in the summer cropping season as Government intensifies efforts to ensure self-food suffiency in the wake of changing rainfall patterns and climate change. In an interview soon after touring Arda Mangwe estates in Matabeleland South on Friday, Arda chairman Mr Basil Nyabadza said the parastatal was in the process of expanding land and sourcing capital from regional investors to maximise maize production in the 2016/17 summer cropping season.
Mr Nyabadza said Arda was also targeting to put about 1 000 hectares under maize production in Matabeleland South in an endeavour to ease perennial drought that has been bedeviling the province.
“I am pleased to inform you that we have regional investors who are coming to partner us. As Arda, we aare targeting about 75 000 tonnes of maize for the harvesting period of the 2016/17 summer cropping season. We are opening up land and at the moment at it all depends on the amount of additional capital we can access ahead of the summer cropping season so that we can plant a bigger hectarage,” he said.
Mr Nyabadza said Arda was setting up a milling plant at Mangwe Estates as well as grain drying facility for value addition of the farming produce as espoused in the 10-Point Plan and Zim-Asset. He said Arda was looking forward to open up more land after harvesting wheat which is under 500 hectares at Mangwe.
Mr Nyabadza said the parastatal which has partnered a number of private players was looking forward to harvest 11 000 tonnes of wheat in the next four weeks to pave way for the land preparation for the next summer cropping season.
“We have wheat production. We have about 500 hectares of wheat that we will be harvesting soon. We have also drying facilities for our produce. We are also going to install a milling facility so that we value add our produce. Arda is going to contribute 11 000 tonnes of wheat in the next three four weeks when we harvest. These are results of the 10-Point Plan. What is important is that we have demonstrated in Agriculture that the private public partnership or doable and is practical,” he said.
