The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga, Senior Farming Reporter
ARDA Antelope Estate at Maphisa Growth Point in Kezi has started rearing 722 weaner cattle to complement the farming activities at the irrigation scheme and relieve grazing pressure at the Kezi Maphaneni Ranch amid revelations that at least 3 000 weaners will be reared at the farm annually.
Estate manager Mr Alec Chinyai said the weaners which are a combination of heifers and steers were moved from Maphaneni Ranch to Antelope Estate where they are being fed through the electric wire grazing system.
“There are plans to increase the number of cattle to about 3 000 every year which will be kept here for nine months before being sent for slaughter. The cattle are grazing in the left pockets of the fields at the estate,” said Mr Chinyai.
He said an additional seven locals were employed to herd the cattle as the initial set up at Antelope Estate did not include livestock and internally does not have paddocks.
Speaking on the expansion of the Arda and Trek projects after a Government directive to open up more land for irrigation purposes, Mr Chinyai said a feasibility study was underway.
“We want to add eight by 50 ha centre pivots to the existing 12 pivots at the farm which will bring to 20 by November as plans to expand by summer are in place. We will have an additional 400 ha,” he said.
According to Arda the land under irrigation for the summer maize crop will be about 890 ha after the expansion project in order to increase food sufficiency in the country and lessen the importation of grain.
Speaking on the winter wheat crop, Mr Chinyai said the 490ha was now at flowering stage.
He said more than 4 000 tonnes of wheat is expected to be harvested this season compared to last year’s 2 900 tonnes.
Mr Chinyai revealed that 33 ha of pasture was also under irrigation to cater for the 722 cattle.
Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently said Zimbabwe has the largest water bodies in the Sadc region thus the Government has come up with a policy that stipulates that where there is a water body, people around it must be empowered by giving them implements to grow grain.
VP Mnangagwa said farmers have to be empowered through irrigation by resuscitating all schemes around the country and creating new ones where there is water and the revival of the Agriculture Rural Development Authority (Arda) estates in all the provinces.
He said the Government was assisting in the acquiring of private partners for the schemes which had been defunct.
