Crop situation generally good: Shiri

THE crop situation in the country is generally good in most parts of the country, although some parts were disturbed by the effects of El Nino, Agriculture Minister Perrance Shiri has said.

Minister Shiri expressed hope that the situation would remain like that across the country to avoid grain importation into the country.

He said this on Wednesday at Zvikomborero ZveChirangano Farm in Makoni District, Manicaland during a tour of agricultural projects in the province.

Zvikomborero ZveChirangano Farm is owned by brothers Francis and Zvikomborero Michael Nyabadza, who are into tobacco and maize production.

“I have been out of the country for the past whole week and the first thing I thought about when I returned was to visit farms and carry out crop assessment,” he said.

“I am happy that overall, crop situation is looking very good, especially in this party of the country all the way say from Harare up to Rusape here. I hope the situation remains the same throughout the country.”

Minister Shiri cast doubt on recording bumper yields in some provinces which he said were disturbed by the effects of El Nino. He said the rains have been poor in some areas, with some dams still at low levels.

“I have doubts when it comes to provinces like Matabeleland South, Masvingo, Midlands, Southern part of Manicaland where the effects of El Nino were heavily felt. Even in Mashonaland provinces, the rains have not been all that good. Dams still have to be filled, yet by this time of the year most dams would have filled up.

“But we will continue to keep our fingers crossed that we receive enough rains to fill the dams and enable crops to go through so that we do not import our staple food,” he said.

Minister Shiri, who was impressed by the tobacco and maize crops at the farm, said Government will continue support farmers with a consignment of tractors expected in the country from Belarus.

He said the tractors were part of the mechanisation programme and they will be distributed to farmers across the country.

“We are advised that some of the equipment owned by other farmers is old. Other farmers are affected by obsolescence of equipment and in some cases shortage of tractors and Government is looking into that. I am aware there are tractors which are supposed to be coming from Belarus for onward selling to farmers.

“The numbers might be insufficient, but we will start from somewhere,” he said.

Minister Shiri said Government is also working towards improving irrigation schemes around the country. He said there were about 80 centre pivots which were distributed to farmers on a cost-recovery basis. The cost-recovery system requires a farmer to pay 10 percent of the total cost of the centre pivot and settle the balance later.

“We embarked on irrigation rehabilitation and development. We are also developing irrigation by bringing in centre pivots and in some cases main line pumping units so that we increase areas under irrigation. We have a lot of water bodies and we need to utilise them,” he said.

Minister Shiri encouraged farmers to increase productivity for the country to be able to export and earn foreign currency.

He said farmers need to employ best agronomy methods to increase productivity. After visiting the farm in Makoni District, Minister Shiri visited Tsonzo Dairy Farmers’ Association collection depot at Makunike homestead in Mutasa.

He is also expected to visit Marowanyati Dam in Buhera today. He was accompanied by officials from his ministry, Manicaland acting provincial crops and livestock production officer Mrs Phillippa Rwambiwa and officials from Command Agriculture.