The Sunday News
Ngonidzashe Chiutsi Agriculture Correspondent
FARMERS at Valley Irrigation Scheme in Kezi, Matabeleland South have lost crops estimated at $100 000 after nearly 100 hectares of different crops wilted due to lack of water following the breaking down of a Zesa transformer at the scheme last month. The irrigation, which has 400 members, is situated at Donkwe-Donkwe, about six kilometres from Kezi Business Centre in Matabeleland South. In an interview Valley Irrigation scheme chairman Mr Gibson Zulu said they had incurred huge losses after Zesa failed to fix the transformer despite a report being made a day after it broke down.
“The transformer developed a fault on 19 September and we informed the Zesa office in Gwanda and they promised to bring a new one but up to now there is nothing,’’ said Mr Zulu at the irrigation scheme on Thursday.
He said all the crops they had planted that included maize, which was supposed to be harvested in November, had wilted off.
“We had planted 30 hectares of maize and the crop is now a complete write-off. We spent about $26 580 in buying inputs such as fertiliser, seed and paying bills to Zinwa, Zesa and labour for land preparation but all has gone to waste,” said Mr Zulu.
He said they were expecting five tonnes per hectare from the maize field but got nothing after it wilted off.
“We had planted 33 hectares of winter wheat and the crop is also now a complete write-off. We also used over $33 600 in buying inputs such as fertiliser, seed and paying other organisations.”
He said they were expecting to harvest four tonnes per hectare but due to the power challenge, they only managed to harvest 0,4 tonnes per hectare.
Mr Zulu also added that they had also planted a hectare of sorghum at a cost of $230.
“On the sorghum plots, we were expecting to harvest a tonne per hectare but due to the transformer breakdown, we managed to harvest 0,250 tonnes/ha,” he said.
The Valley Irrigation chairman said they had also planted sugar beans at a cost of $1 674.
“We were expecting to get a yield of three tonnes\ha but due to the transformer breakdown, we are actually getting nothing,” he said and added that from the whole produce they were aiming to get over $100 000 of revenue after sales.
Mr Zulu said it was not the first time they faced a similar challenge.
“The transformer once had a fault during the 2014/2015 summer season and we had planted 150 hectares of maize at a cost of $130 950 but everything wilted off while it was about to mature,” he said.
The irrigation scheme treasurer, Mrs Precious Dhlamini, said the irrigation scheme was the source of livelihood and the latest developments were likely to bring misery to many families in the area.
“We are in a big problem. We depend on this irrigation scheme for our daily upkeep and for school fees for our children and we don’t know what we are going to do raise capital to start again,” said Mrs Dhlamini.
The irrigation scheme committee member, Mr Lameck Ncube, said they had already found a market for the produce.
“We had already secured buyers from Bulawayo companies such as National Foods, Ingwebu Breweries and Blue Ribbon,” said Mr Ncube.
In 2011 the power utility once disconnected the irrigation scheme, located in one of the country’s dry regions, over outstanding debts before affecting the crops.
Mr Zulu said the irrigation scheme still owed Zesa and the debt payment plan was now in disarray following the wilting of the crops.
“We owe Zesa about $107 000 and we are now facing another challenge on how we are going to settle the debt. We were paying $2 000 every month after selling our produce but it’s going to be difficult to follow our payment plan since the crops have wilted off due to water shortages,” Mr Zulu said.
Contacted for comment Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said they were sympathetic with the farmers’ challenge before he revealed that the power utility was facing shortage of transformers.
“It’s really an unfortunate incident and our challenge that we have is, we don’t have transformers readily available in stock at the moment,” he said and added that efforts were being made to rectify the problem.
He also advised the farmers to lodge their complaint to the general manager’s office in Bulawayo who is able to attend to their problem quickly.
