Sydney Mubaiwa in Zaka
Most farmers here have started counting their losses after declaring their maize crop a complete write-off owing to severe moisture stress caused by the prolonged dry spell. This comes as most parts of the district have gone for over a month without receiving rains, leaving mainly the staple maize crop severely moisture-stressed. Some of the farmers in areas such as Ndanga said the application of fertiliser had adversely affected their crops.

Mr Taurai Chikato of Zimhungu Village in Ndanga said most of the maize crop in the mountainous area was now a complete write-off due to the dry spell. “We had applied Compound D fertiliser that we received under the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme, but our crops are now wilting because of severe moisture stress,” he said.

Mr Chikato said farmers in Ndanga now hope that some rains will fall in the next few days. Zaka district Agritex officer Mr Esau Mutuzungari warned farmers to stop applying top-dressing fertiliser to their crops to avoid compounding their losses as a result of the prevailing dry spell.

“We want to urge our farmers to exercise caution and stop applying top-dressing fertiliser as this will further damage their crops already affected by the prolonged dry spell,’’ he said.

Mr Mutuzungari urged farmers in the arid district to practice conservation agriculture and mitigate the effects of prolonged dry spells.

Weeding, he said, should also be done cautiously to protect crops from being exposed to the hot weather.

Zaka Central legislator Cde Paradzai Chakona challenged farmers in the district to make use of available water bodies to irrigate their crops.

He said communal farmers were also supposed to seriously embrace water harvesting techniques as that will cushion their crops in the event of dry spells.

“I want to urge our farmers to take water harvesting projects seriously by constructing small dams that trap water in their areas so that they can venture into irrigation at a local scale,” said Cde Chakona.

“Our communal farmers should also avoid practices like stream bank cultivation as they induce siltation of rivers and dams, leaving them with nowhere to fall back on in the event of dry spells.”

Among areas with the maize crop worst affected by the current weather conditions in Zaka are Chida, Bvukururu, Chipinda, Mushaya, Zibwowa, Rudhanda and Zimhungu.