HOPE has been restored for farmers operating at Guqukani Irrigation Scheme in Gwanda’s Ward 21 following reconnection of water supply.

The irrigation scheme had been lying idle for about five years, as farmers did not have a reliable source of water.
Blanket Mine recently chipped in and connected water from the mine to the irrigation scheme.

The irrigation scheme is located a few metres from the mine and this has brought huge relief to the farmers, who can resume production once again.

The mine also erected a perimeter fence around the irrigation and installed water pipes to assist the farmers in watering their crops.

The four-hectare irrigation scheme has 19 farmers.

For the farmers, this is just the beginning, as their desire is to expand their irrigation project.

They said this is only possible if they can get an independent water source dedicated to the irrigation.

Before a pipe system was installed at the irrigation, farmers used to rely on two boreholes located a few metres from their scheme.

They would carry water in buckets from the boreholes to water their crops, and this was a cumbersome exercise that limited their production.

While water they are getting from Blanket Mine has brought relief to them, the farmers have no say on when water is pumped.

When a Chronicle news crew visited the irrigation scheme yesterday, water had been temporarily disconnected by the mine.

Guqukani Irrigation Scheme secretary, Ms Trevor Victor, said once they have a permanent water source, then they can increase production.

“This irrigation started in 2003 as a community initiative. In 2015 we stopped operating as we were experiencing water challenges. We were relying on water coming from Blanket Mine and they stopped the water supply, saying there were other projects the mine was pursuing. The water was then reconnected last year and we resumed our operations. This has really gone a long way in assisting us and we are grateful for the help we are getting from Blanket Mine,” Ms Victor said.

“The challenge we are facing now is that we share the water with the mine and we don’t have control over when to open the water and close it. As I’m speaking right now, we don’t have water coming out of the pipes, as it has been closed. It would be better if we could have our own permanent water source at the irrigation. The water we are using isn’t ours and we don’t even know when it will be disconnected again.”

She said there was a river close by where a solar-powered piped system could be installed to draw water from the river to the irrigation scheme.

Irrigation scheme chairperson, Mr Kannie Ndlovu, said the perimeter fence erected by Blanket Mine has helped to protect their crops from livestock.
When they first started operating at the irrigation scheme, Mr Ndlovu said they were only using one hectare of land

because of limited water supply.

After they were connected to Blanket Mine, they expanded the hectarage to four.

“Another challenge we were facing is that of livestock straying into our irrigation as there was no fence. The fence around our irrigation is really of great help now because we no longer have to worry about livestock straying onto our property,” Mr Ndlovu said.

Mr Ndlovu said they had maize crop, onions and tomatoes under irrigation, and they were also preparing to plant butternut.

The food they were producing at the irrigation, Mr Ndlovu said, was assisting them to fend for their families.

“This irrigation has really helped us to fend for our families. We sell some of our produce to neighbouring villages and even in Gwanda town. We are also able to provide food for our families; not just food, but nutritious food, as we grow a wide variety of crops at our irrigation. Our desire is to expand the garden so that more families can benefit and for us to increase our income,” said Mr Ndlovu. — @DubeMatutu