An illustration of massive farm production

Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter—
THE Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) Antelope Estate in Kezi, Matabeleland South, which was on the verge of collapse two years ago is poised for growth with production expected to cover 3,000 hectares. The estate faced many operational challenges due to lack of funding but has had a dramatic recovery and is expecting a bumper harvest of wheat after partnering with Trek Petroleum this year.

Arda acting general manager Willard Ngona told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development that they were working on purchasing more equipment to expand production at the estate. “On February 1, this year we entered into a five year partnership with Trek Petroleum as a contract farming agreement for the next five years to create synergy between the company and ourselves. They manage the whole project carrying the risk and financing the project. The total size of Antelope Estate is 3,000 hectares but the current developed arable is 610 hectares,” said Ngona.

He said work on expanding the hectarage is underway and they are expecting to plant 610 hectares of commercial maize. “The scheme here can do 3,000 ha and the expansion is going on. The estate has 200 hectares under flood irrigation and about 410 overhead irrigation. Our main worry was that if we expand to 3,000 hectares would the water be sufficient but Zinwa has confirmed that there is an up-stream dam Shashani which can augment Antelope dam for irrigation,” said Ngona.

Farm manager Aleck Chinyai told the committee that they also catered for the local community by setting aside 150 hectares under flood irrigation for their use. “We have 106 farmers under the out-grower scheme with farmers having variable pieces of land ranging from two hectares to three hectares,” said Chinyai.

“When we partnered with Trek we managed to employ 150 people from the local community apart from the 41 ARDA employees”. Chinyai said they were also looking forward to continuing with their seed production, soya-beans, sorghum, cotton and commercial maize. Trek Petroleum representative Graham Edwards told the committee that the wheat crop had already been bought by National Foods.

“This area is mainly suitable for barley and wheat but we did not plant barely because the buyer, Delta Beverages said they had enough in their reserves,” he said. The parly committee chaired by Cde Christopher Chitindi toured the estate where they were shown the winter wheat crop which is almost ready for harvesting and the water pumping system.

“Of all Arda estates we have visited so far, this one has proven to be the best in terms of yields and production. We are happy that they are considering planting 610 hectares of commercial maize for the summer season so it’s a positive move taken by Arda to rope in the investor. Remember we have a target of 2 million tonnes of maize this season,” said Cde Chitindi.

He challenged other ailing parastatals such as Cold Storage Company to adopt the same initiative to boost food security as well as the country’s economy. The committee strongly lamented the deplorable state of Arda estate in Sanyati in Midlands which they toured on Tuesday. They said they noted with concern the excessive negligence and vandalism of the parastatal’s property by the local community.

Apart from Antelope, Arda has also partnered with Trek Petroleum at Ingwizi Estate in Mangwe and Doreen Spride Estate in Kadoma. Arda this year managed to secure partners for all its five estates in Matabeleland South and North provinces as it sought to boost production. At Sedgwick Estate in Tsholotsho, Arda is working with Vengai Runyowa who is the managing director of Kobb chicken farm located in Kensington in Bulawayo.

At Balu in Umguza, it has partnered with Ashton Ndlovu, former chief executive officer of Rio Zim and at the Jotsholo farm, Arda partnered a Chinese company. The parastatal is working on opening an additional 1,200 hectares targeted for maize production this season.