Business Reporter

The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe has intensified the moisture conservation tillage assistance programme to farmers in light of recurrent droughts that saw output plunging by 52 percent this year.

Conservation tillage is a generic term that covers systems that reduce loss of soil and water compared with conventional methods.

Droughts associated with climate change have seen southern African experiencing severe droughts over the past few years, hurting production and threatening food security.

On Tuesday, acting chief executive of the Agricultural Marketing Authority Ms Nancy Zitsanza told the Parliamentary Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement that cotton output was expected to decline by 52 percent this year due to severe prolonged dry spells that were experienced last year.

Cotton production will be the lowest in two seasons at about 68 000 tonnes from 142 000 tonnes last year and 74 000 tonnes in 2017. The El Nino induced drought also affected maize output which dropped by 54 percent to 776 635 tonnes.

Cottco, the country’s largest financer of cotton farming, has since last year been acquiring tillage equipment such as tractors and deep ploughing rippers to boost prospects of higher yields. Last year, farmers whose land was tilled using the rippers were able to achieve good yields although it was a drought year.

Cottco has already started the tillage programme for the forthcoming season with farmers in Mashonaland East Province benefiting. As such, farmers who spoke to The Sunday Mail Business, said they were hoping to achieve better yields next year.

Chief Chitsunga of Uzumba District, welcomed the programme, saying it will also go a long way in reducing challenges of draught power. “It is a programme that is a welcome,” he said. Our fields are already being ploughed way before the start of the season and this is good in terms of early preparations,” said Chief Chitsunga.

Mutoko farmer Mr Mernad Dzingayi, said the tillage programme would enable them to plant on time. “Most of us benefiting from this programme, will be able to take advantage of early rains and this will boost prospects of good yields,” he said.

Another farmer Mr John Webster of Maramba, said in the absence of irrigation facilities, conservation tillage was critical in boosting prospects of good yields even with low rainfall.

“Deep ploughing is important and to a certain extend…we are sort of insulated from the erratic rains.”

Cottco is targeting to plough a total of 800 hectares in Mutoko and Mutawatawa before the onset of the rains. The same programme is also being implemented in other cotton producing areas including Muzarabani, Chiredzi, Gokwe and Sanyati. Government introduced the scheme to save the industry that faced imminent collapse after farmers abandoned cotton citing poor prices and low levels of funding.

Introduced in 2015, the input scheme has helped production to increase from 28 000 tonnes, the lowest output in nearly two decades to about 142 000 tonnes last season. At peak Zimbabwe produced 352 000 tonnes of raw cotton in 2012.