The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Farming Reporter
CHIEF Nhlanhlayamangwe Felix Ndiweni of Ntabazinduna in Matabeleland North’s Umguza District has embarked on a rare but thriving agricultural project of growing an indigenous wild vegetable specie, ulude for commercial purposes.
Last year the enterprising traditional leader engaged women in his area of jurisdiction to pick the seed of the wild vegetable, scientifically known as cleome gynandra to enable him to come up with a seed bank as well as to crop it on a two-acre field at the backyard of his homestead for consumption and selling.
“I realised that there was nothing that can stop one from growing ulude on commercial basis throughout the year and as such I asked a group of women in my area to pick its seed for me to enable me to crop it as well as to come up with a seed bank,” said Chief Ndiweni.
He said throughout history, wild vegetables played a significant role in the daily diet of the indigenous people of Zimbabwe.
Even now, this role has not yet been completely eroded.
“Most people like ulude as part of their relish and medical practitioners have also recommended it for its nutritional value compared to other exotic vegetables such as cabbage and chomolia which are preferred at most households,” said Chief Ndiweni.
However, ulude and other wild vegetables are not recognised by either national policy or developmental agencies. This has slowly but significantly increased the levels of hunger in marginal areas with poor soils, insufficient rainfall and inadequate infrastructure.
“It’s not easy to crop ulude because somehow its germination rate is very low compared to exotic vegetables. I have, however, managed to harvest from my first crop which I put down in September.
“Ulude is very ideal especially here in Matabeleland region which is relatively dry because it requires minimum water and it’s not susceptible to various pests. I am in the process of writing my own manual on how it’s properly grown,” said Chief Ndiweni.
The traditional leader said he was in the process of intensifying the ulude project in an effort to market its seed and the vegetable in Bulawayo, which is a distance of about 40 kilometres from his Ntabazinduna home as well as exploring the foreign market.
“I am working on improving my seed bank so that I can market both the seed and the vegetable in Bulawayo. When I was in London I happened to buy a small packet of ulude there and it cost me about $15 thus it shows that there is an export market as well thus I am looking forward to explore it,” said Chief Ndiweni.
@DNsingo
