Own Correspondent
“Seed Co’s thought leadership initiatives saw an elated 30 farmers being flown to South Africa to join about 80 000 agriculture stakeholders across the globe at the NAMPO Park Exhibition Site, Bothaville, Free States, approximately 250km South West of Pretoria.

The NAMPO Expo is one of the largest exhibitions in the world, which draws more than 700 exhibitors on 24-hectare space, covering a wide range of agricultural and related industries.

Seed Co managing director-Southern Africa Mr Dennias Zaranyika, who saw the farmers off said;

“We see farmers as economic partners that we support through provision of world class seed varieties and extension support because of our strong conviction that; when farmers’ productivity and businesses grow, our business grows too.

“We believe the right balance of varieties and extension support are two fundamental keys to farmers profit equation and agriculture growth.

“Exchange tours such as the one undertaken last week to NAMPO, which we do every year, thus sending farmers to agricultural technology expos is a critical extension tool. Every year we travel with groups of farmers to such expos in countries like SA, Zambia, Brazil, among others.”

The NAMPO trip was meant to keep Zimbabwean farmers abreast with latest farming technologies in the world. In other words, agriculture stakeholders in Zimbabwe should know what constitutes state-of-the–art technologies across the world

NAMPO Harvest Day, whose theme this year was “Efficiency with technology”, organised by Grain SA, is a four day event which is held annually and is the largest agricultural event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The four-day expo is an unique opportunity to all manufacturers and distributors of agricultural machinery, products and services to exhibit and demonstrate a vast range of products to targeted customers.

Interactive tractor and implement demonstrations are a unique feature of the show which allows farmers to view interactive demonstrations of a wide range of machinery and implements.

“This year Seed Co felt NAMPO was the best place to visit as the farmers would be able to observe various machinery and equipment being demonstrated. We feel the tour offered farmers a unique platform to network with the agricultural industry’s top players, strengthened friendships and relationships in a true business environment,” said Mr Zaranyika.

Agriculture trade and investment companies from, among other places, Israel, Poland, England, America, Argentina, India, France, Italy, Denmark, China, Turkey and Russia participated at the NAMPO Expo.

Mr John Basera, Seed Co Agronomy and Extension Services manager, who was part of the touring team, said; “Increasing productivity reduces cost of production and maximises profitability and value wedge at farm level. This will also have ripple effects on cost of production on the downstream side of the agriculture and food value chain.”

At a dinner hosted by the seed company in Sandton after the NAMPO tour, Mr Zaranyika said, “Catching up is always hard to do and that is the reason why as a company we are proactive and we take farmers to these international expos so that they are abreast and up to date with latest technologies which optimise productivity. This tour is indeed another Seed Co way of contributing to farmer and national productivity towards meeting industry and consumption needs as well as tradable surplus. We believe embracing technology is another important step in reclaiming sustainable food production and food basket status of Southern Africa and indeed it can be done. This certainly will augment what the Government is doing in promoting growth in Agriculture.”

NAMPO Tour Highlights

Mechanisation and technology empowers productivity!

The farmers were exposed to irrigation equipment which optimises efficiency with chemigation and fertigation provisions. The thrust on irrigation technology development has been the use of water efficiently and minimise cost of system maintenance, save power and reduce costs.

Satellite controlled farming machinery is now the new trend in adopting precision, farming, which optimises productivity levels and margins.

The latest fertiliser applicators now require one to input figures (rates per unit area and intended speed). This adds efficiency to fertiliser application operations.

The country’s grain and seed drying thrust will benefit immensely from knowledge gained by the visiting commercial farmers.

Commenting on choosing appropriate mechanisation, Mr Basera said; “Carefully chosen machinery can allow crops to be grown and harvested with minimum-to-no soil disturbance, ensure that the soil surface remains intact and protected by organic cover, manage crop rotations to enhance soil health and conserve crop nutrients and moisture but ultimately enhance crop productivity”.

Mechanisation and modernisation enhances cropping intensity and is the way towards sustained agriculture revolution.

Comments by some of the farmers:

Henk Terblanche: — Karoi. This trip was most effective and informative! Thank you for the opportunity to get to know you, other farmers and leaders in mechanisation.

Tawanda Garwe: — Goromonzi, Arcturus. Many thanks to Seed Co for this insightful trip. We learnt a lot from NAMPO exhibitions to take back with us and it has been great to swap notes with some of the other leading regional and international farmers.

Moddy Mahoho: — Mazowe. We learnt a lot and really appreciate Seed Co’ s efforts in enhancing productivity and thank you so much Seed Co team for the initiative. You really add value to our farming enterprises!

Peter Drummond: — Norton. Thanks to all the Seed Co team for the opportunity to network with you and other farmers and the Nampo Show. Indeed well organised and informative tour.

Kudakwashe Kudenga: — Marondera. Such initiatives are bound to yield great results for all. It is a privilege to be part of such a forward thinking organisation that incorporates the youths in such programmes. Seed Co well done ‘fortune favours the brave’.

Hellen and Godfrey Pfachi: — Mazowe. Big Thanks to Seed Co on the Nampo trip. Thank you for facilitating great interaction, networking, relationship building, learning what should be done and what not to do in our businesses.

Peter Evans: — Merry Ellen Farm. This trip allow us to see new and modern equipment and technologies that will help improve our farm operations. The trip definitely achieved this.

Collen Gura, Mrs Gura and Antony: — CAG Holdings, Chakari. We are all in with you in the quest for success for both our businesses and the country.

Tinashe Ziki of Highburry Farm, Mhangura and Percy Mazike, Rastal Farm, Selous both stressed the need for massive mechanisation, automation and digitalisation of farming to achieve efficiency.