The Sunday News
Chrispen Gumunyu, Farming Reporter
A NON-PROFIT making organisation, Techno Serve has embarked on an extensive seed breeding programme in Lupane District, Matabeleland North Province aimed at capacitating communal farmers to venture into horticultural production so as to improve their livelihoods.
Techno Serve programme manager Mr Thellegious Nongera said through its partnership with Sygenta the organisation had managed to put in place solar-powered drip irrigation facilities and initiated horticultural produce seed production project at Tshongogwe and Makhovula irrigation schemes in Lupane.
The project is part of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBR)’s Sizimele initiative aimed at improving the livelihoods of rural communities.
“Through the Sizimele initiative, we have managed to put up solarised drip irrigation schemes at Tshongogwe and Makhovula irrigation schemes in Lupane, which are both two hectare schemes. We managed to reserve 300 square metres at both schemes for Sygenta to put up demonstration plots for the production of different tomato and cabbage varieties to benefit local farmers,” he said.
The ZRBF is supported by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement, European Union, Embassy of Sweden, United Nations Development Programme, and the UK Department for International Development.
Techno Serve is a consortium member of ZRBR together with other organisation namely the Institute for Rural Technologies, Organisation of Rural Technologies, ProAfrica, Future of Hope Foundation and Midlands State University among other community-based organisations.
Mr Nongera said horticultural production was being introduced at Makhovula while Tshongogwe farmers who have over the years been into both cereal and horticultural production are set to benefit through being introduced to high yielding varieties.
“This is the first time for farmers at Makhovula to venture into horticulture crops as they have been active in the production of cereals especially under Government’s Command Agriculture Programme thus they were quite excited to learn more about horticultural crops,” said Mr Nongera.
Horticultural crop produces higher biomass than field crops per unit areas resulting in efficient utilisation of natural resources.
Sygenta field promoter Mr Kudakwashe Mugwagwa also acknowledged that the organisation offered farmers training in horticultural crop production and management.
“Sygenta educated farmers on how to grow hybrid seedlings and also assisted them in agronomic transplanting, use of agro-chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides, good crop management and gross margins for different horticulture produce once reaped. This partnership serves to encourage farmers to use technology by providing hybrid seeds which result in better yields and improve disease tolerance,” said Mr Mugwagwa.
He said the seed breeding demonstrations were meant to identify and select varieties which best suit and adapt to climatic conditions in the district.
“We hope to identify and suggest to them crops and varieties to use if they are to start horticultural production and to find out challenges, which hinder them to commercially venture into horticultural production,” said Mr Mugwagwa.
He said there has been generally an increase in horticultural production on the peripherals of Bulawayo notably in Umguza District and a surge in peri-urban farming activities as more and more people venture into agriculture for a living.
“There has been a significant growth in horticultural production activities largely due to the ever increasing demand for fresh produce and the presence of a readily available in Bulawayo. There are also prospects of export markets in neighbouring countries such as Zambia and Botswana and of late Angola. It is also of paramount importance to note that Umguza is located on an aquifer thus making it easy to draw water for irrigation purposes,” said Mr Mugwagwa.
@chrispen_gee
