Mash West Bureau
About 500 farmers in Chegutu District have volunteered to participate in the Government’s Command Poultry programme.

The programme is part of the Command Livestock initiative being rolled out by Government throughout the country.

The Command Livestock also covers agricultural activities such as fisheries and wildlife to be funded to the tune of $432 million by both the State and the private sector.

In an interview, Chegutu District Crop and Livestock Production officer Mr Godfrey Sengeyi said more farmers were showing interest, with four farmers having benefited already.

“We have so far registered about 500 farmers from the nine zones in our district,” he said. “More farmers have shown a lot of interest in the Command Poultry programme.

“So far as a district, we have four farmers from the Mopane Old Resettlement Scheme in Sokisi Zone who have benefited from the project with each farmer receiving 3 000 chicks with enough feed, vaccines and medicines.”

The District Agritex office, Mr Sengeyi said, was monitoring the chicks on a daily basis.

“We are monitoring feed consumption, growth rate as well as the mortality rate while checking on any signs of diseases,” he said.

“So far, the chicks have attained 0,19 grammes within a week. This is quite impressive. The market will be availed by Command Agriculture and we have also identified abattoirs where the birds will be sold.”

Mr Sengeyi said any farmer who met the criteria would receive adequate inputs and drugs.

“Every farmer who registers should meet the standards,” he said. “Farmers are expected to have a standard fowl run and availability of clean water will be considered.

“They should also have enough feeding and drinking equipment before receiving the inputs.

“Bio-security measures, which include fencing and the availability of a footbath will be required.”

Agritex and the Department of Veterinary Services are training beneficiaries of the programme in Chegutu.

The programme is being introduced following the huge success of the Special Maize Programme for Import Substitution also known as Command Agriculture.

Command Agriculture is credited for being one of the initiatives by Government that led to a bumper maize harvest realised in the 2016/2017 farming season.

President Mnangagwa is on record saying Command Agriculture was a sure way for the country to attain food self-sustenance, with Zimbabwe regaining its bread basket status in food production.