The Sunday News
Chrispen Gumunyu, Business Reporter
THE popularity of greenhouse farming in the country continues to grow as a number of farmers embrace the concept in a bid to mitigate effects of climate change, an official said.
Total Farm Solutions (TFS) agronomist Miss Hughna Dlodlo said the recurrent drought has led to most enterprising farmers notably horticultural producers considering greenhouse farming in an effort to realise potential yields.
“The unreliability of the rainfall patterns and the variegations in the weather patterns, the realisation that one does not necessarily need very large farms to be considered a farmer and the ability to control the environment such as temperature, humidity, irrigation, disease and pests, which plays a key role in optimum production of selected produce has led to the increase of greenhouse farms,” she said.
Miss Dlodlo said there has been a tremendous increase of peri-urban and urban Bulawayo farmers who have since adopted greenhouse farming over the last two years.
“It’s quite notable that Bulawayo has caught up quite impressively with the wave of intensive production under greenhouse farming. Notably, TFS has constructed over 30 greenhouse structures in Bulawayo, over the past two years with as average size of 500 square metres,” she said.
A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to industrial-sized buildings.
“The main crops grown under greenhouse farming are high value crops, which when produced under intensive production can yield more per unit area than grown on an open field. These crops include English cucumbers, tomatoes and pepper. The varieties grown in the greenhouse are mainly indeterminate varieties, which continuously produce, as long as the environment is good,” said Miss Dlodlo.
As the country continues to cope with an unstable economy, greenhouses are popping up in backyards in both urban and suburban areas. Amateur farmers now provide produce to local markets and earn a consistent income.
“Currently what the country needs is production. Production using locally available resources with a potential for export markets is what can revive the economy. Greenhouse farming stands to be a potential business model that can have a great impact on reviving the country’s agricultural sector while at the same time giving considerable returns to the farmers involved. Great potential can be unlocked from every piece of land available through intensive production models,” she said.
TFS is an organisation that provides innovative agricultural solutions such as greenhouse farming. The organisation currently operates in Bulawayo, Gweru and Harare where it constructs greenhouses for both urban and rural farmers.
