Petros Zivengwa Features —
CorrespondentIn 2012, 40-year-old Pedzi Zimbodza was looking for a business venture to invest in, a decision which took some well thought out deliberations to reach. Settling for agriculture was a leap of faith, but the dividends so far have justified his choice.
In the four years, he has been involved in agriculture, he has made a name for himself.
“Agriculture is the backbone of Zimbabwe’s economy and I have always been passionate about farming,” said Zimbodza describing his long standing love for his trade.
His journey started when he was working for an agro company in the capital.
“I got involved with urban agriculture when I was working for Cropserve, an agro company in Mt Hampden, Harare,” Zimbodza said.
When he ventured into agriculture full time four years ago, he did not know that he will be playing a pivotal role in the country’s food security efforts.
Today he is running Crop Masters, an agro-based company supporting Command Agriculture.
Command agriculture is a Government initiative aimed at helping farmers with inputs and advice while incentivising their effort to grow food for national sustainability.
Under the Command Agriculture scheme more than 2 000 farmers received seed, fertilisers, fuel, pesticides and herbicides.
The selected farmers are expected to produce five tonnes per hectare for the national strategic grain reserves.
The farmers are expected to produce two million tonnes of maize from 400 000 hectares.
Zimbabwe needs 1,8 million tonnes of maize for human and livestock consumption while Government has pegged 500 000 tonnes for the national strategic grain reserves.
Zimbodza said his organisation successfully engaged Government to participate in the Command Agriculture scheme.
“Our role is supplying our products to farmers who do not have enough capital to secure all the requirements needed in their agricultural activities,” he said.
He said they supply agro-chemicals, seeds and all other farming inputs to both subsistence and commercial farmers across Zimbabwe.
Zimbodza said his wish was for all companies which have agriculture links to join hands and support Government programmes.
He said by this they would be contributing to Government efforts to ensure national food security.
The programme, which is being worked on a $500 million budget was necessitated by an unprecedented rise of food insecurity in the country.
Economic challenges and persistent droughts have affected agricultural production in Zimbabwe.
The drought experienced in the past two years due to the el Nino weather phenomenon has been described as the worst in 15 years.
Farmers have also failed to access inputs since benefiting from the Government’s land reform programme.
The programme saw 300 000 beneficiaries receiving land for agricultural purposes.
The farmers have, however, faced challenges in accessing bank loans.
As a result, national food insecurity rose from 11 percent in 2011 to 42 percent this year.
“The Command Agriculture scheme has helped farmers who are in need of seed and fertilisers since this was a Government-initiated programme,” he said.
“Farmers are accessing the inputs for free and all they need is to contribute to the national strategic grain reserves.
“The farmers we are working with as suppliers are very happy with the Government initiative.”
Zimbodza said his company has, in stock, chemicals which can help curb the pest outbreaks associated with the rainy season.
“We have a lot of chemicals needed by farmers among them Carbaryl and Lambda for army-worm, Blast 60 EC, Accotab, Endosulfan among other chemicals,” said Zimbodza.
Zimbodza’s call comes amid concern over pest outbreaks associated with the above normal rains being received in Zimbabwe.
Pests and crop diseases, such as the army-worm, have been a threat to full realisation of a bumper harvest.
There have also been calls for increased attention to some of these challenges.
According to the deputy director of the Department of Research and Specialist Services (DRSS) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Godfrey Chikwenhere, farmers should be on the lookout for the army-worm.
The pest outbreak has been reported in Mazowe and several other areas around the Harare Metropolitan province.
“We appeal to urban farmers to be on the lookout for crop pests because with the rains we are receiving, they can come from any direction,” Dr Chikwenhere said.
He said there was an urgent need for dealing with the pest outbreaks.
“If farmers see the pests they should report to the nearest police or any nearest Government offices so that they are given advice on how to control the pests,” he said.
Dr Chikwenhere, however, said there was no free Government chemicals to help urban farmers.
He urged farmers to go to the DRSS to get advice and chemical prescription used to contain the pests.
The armyworm has destroyed thousands of hectares of maize in a short period of time.
“Farmers should use Carbaryl 85% Wettable Powder at high dosage rates of 300-400g per 15 litres of water to effectively control the pest at a full cover.
“They can alternative apply insecticides such as pyrethroids, carbamates and organophosphates, which are recommended to contain the pest immediately,” he said.
Meanwhile, Government has called on beneficiaries of the Command Agriculture scheme to maximise production on their land.
Calls have also been made for accountability and transparency in the initiative.
Warnings have also been made against beneficiaries who abuse the inputs for the parallel market.
Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa said people who received the inputs under Command Agriculture should be honest.
He warned that corruption would attract a jail term.
“Corruption is not needed in the Command Agriculture scheme and the Government will not hesitate to take action,” he said.
There were plans, according to VP Mnangagwa, to broaden the scheme to accommodate other projects like soya beans production to meet required quantities of cooking oil in the country.
Zimbabwe and the whole of Southern Africa have been receiving good rains that have increased prospects of a bumper harvest.
The rains come after the region experienced two years of an el Nino-induced drought that affected food and livestock production.
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