Conrad Mupesa Mashonaland West Correspondent
Mashonaland West Province is expected to put at least 21 000 hectares under wheat during winter, but farmers should make use of irrigation to realise meaningful benefits, provincial Agritex agronomist Mrs Siyena Makaza has said.

Speaking during an all stakeholders meeting last Friday, which was aimed at assessing the preparedness of the province for the 2020 winter wheat cropping season, Mrs Makaza said from the national target of 70 000 ha, Mashonaland West was expected to produce at least 30 percent of that.

She said there was need to immediately register farmers, verify availability of water for irrigation, check the state of irrigation infrastructure and work on the initial contracting of farmers as part of preparations for a bumper winter wheat production.

Mrs Makaza said irrigation was the way to go for farmers who inherited farms with dams and boreholes for irrigation purposes.

“Our climate is constantly shifting almost every season, which is a sign that farmers should desist from expecting to only rain-feed their crops. Irrigation should not only be done for winter cropping season but even summer cropping,” she said.

Speaking during the same meeting, farmers expressed concern over power outages and called for a deliberate arrangement that ensures steady supply of power to the farms.

In an interview, former Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union former vice president Mr Berean Mukwende said farmers were expected to use alternative, reliable and cheaper sources of energy like solar power for irrigation as a mitigation measure.

He said although the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) was expected to prioritise farming areas, other factors beyond its control may prevent the provision of steady power supplies.

The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, seed and agrochemicals companies, farmers from Zvimba, Makonde and Chegutu, which are the major wheat producing districts in the province.