Herald Reporters

VICE Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi yesterday toured various stands at this year’s unique Zimbabwe Agriculture Show and called Zimbabweans to increase production and productivity through the use of modern farming methods.

After touring stands at the Agriculture Show that is closed to the public because of the Covid-19 pandemic, VP Chiwenga commended companies exhibiting.

“I am quite impressed to see what has been put on by the few companies that have managed to come so we can maintain our tradition of the yearly agricultural shows.

“And just now we are coming from the Command Agriculture which clearly demonstrates on what a farmer must do, from registering with agriculture extension officers (Agritex) who will assess the field and what type of crops to be planted on that particular field, the inputs which are required and the whole process of how the farmer has to go through up until harvesting, and also how the money is repaid and how the profit is banked in his account.

“Once we perfect these systems, we will be saying goodbye to food insufficiency and we will be bringing back Zimbabwe to its glory and that is what we would want to see.”

Zimbabwe’s economic revival is anchored on agriculture, tourism and mining with the ultimate aim being to make the country an upper middle class economy by 2030, in pursuance of President Mnangagwa’s Vision.

“I have moved around to see the other areas in mining and to see what the mining sector is doing and it is very impressive. We have great growth in the mining sector and we can see how we are also faring on the international market with various minerals which Zimbabwe is endowed with,” said VP Chiwenga.

Vice President Kembo Mohadi (centre) and ZANU PF Secretary for Production Cde Josaya Hungwe view dried game meat at the ZimParks stand yesterday. — Picture: Justin Mutenda

On the other hand, Vice President Mohadi challenged farmers who are close to water bodies to make use of irrigation systems to mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure food security at household level.

“We need to feed our people from irrigated land. We know how much our people want. How many hectares are needed to feed our people? Now we are working on that.

“We are working on a number of water bodies. Each and every water body in Zimbabwe is expected to set up irrigation facilities so that we don’t depend on rainfall. We are working towards that,” he said.

In the past two years, the country has been facing droughts, but Government has put in place mechanisms, such as Pfumvudza to climate-proof agriculture while dams are being constructed countrywide to support irrigation.

“We are calling upon our farmers to make use of dams which are being put in place by the Government to ensure food at household level is achieved.

“The Second Republic is committed to transforming the agriculture sector through irrigation facilities,” said VP Mohadi.

Among the Government-funded initiatives include the long-awaited Kunzvi Dam located north of Harare, Mutange in Gokwe, Gwayi-Shangani in Matabeleland North, Chivhu Dam and Causeway Dam in Mashonaland East and Marowanyati Dam in Buhera, Manicaland among others.

The 110th edition of the agriculture show kicked off on Wednesday this week and is operating under strict conditions as per Covid-19 regulations and protocols.