Tawanda Mangoma in Chiredzi
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority has challenged sugarcane farmers here to repair canals regularly to reduce rampant loss of water.

This comes as ZINWA has indicated to farmers that it has enough water for irrigation to cover the next two growing seasons in the Lowveld.

There are fears that rampant water loss along canals, most of which are in a dilapidated state, may severely affect irrigation water reserves unless farmers periodically carry routine canal maintenance.

ZINWA southern region manager Mr Peter Shoteri yesterday said the greatest challenge faced by the local authority was failure by farmers in the Lowveld to implement water conservation strategies.

He said it was unfortunate that some farmers become wasteful upon discovering the presence of abundant irrigation water stocks in Lowveld irrigation supply dams.

“When we say we have sufficient water in the system, our greatest challenge is that all water conservation methods are normally abandoned,” said Mr Shoteri.

“At the moment you will realise that some sugarcane farmers no longer care about preserving water, resulting in unnecessary losses of water, which could have otherwise been stored for future use.”

Mr Shoteri said sugarcane farmers should be pacesetters in water preservation as they immensely benefited from the commodity.