Dry spell cuts prisons maize output
The Herald
Manicaland Correspondent
ZIMBABWE Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Manicaland has expressed concern over the decrease in tonnage of maize it produced this year which has been blamed on the January mid-season dry spell.
About one tonne of grain per hectare was produced from the 13 hectares under the provincial project, as opposed to four tonnes per hectare last year.
In an interview with The Herald, manager for Mutare Prison Farm, Assistant Principal Correctional Officer Isaac Sibiya said: “Due to the dry weather pattern of January, the distribution of rainfall was poor and it caused severe drought.”
He said their mandate was to provide inmates in Manicaland with a proper but due to the severe drought of this year, it was going to be difficult for them.
“The poor harvest has been a bit difficult for us since our mandate is to fully feed the inmates in Manicaland but right now we do not have the capacity for that.”
Mr Sibiya said they had plans to increase their hectarage in maize through irrigation schemes, as a mitigatory measure against drought.
“However, Chipinge Farm produced better yields per hectare this year than Mutare, which is a sign of progress,” he said.
Officer Sibiya added that Government was always there to provide food for inmates even in times of drought.
He added: “In Manicaland we have three farms, which include Little Kraal in Nyazura, Mutare Prison Farm and Chipinge Farm.
“All these have a mandate to feed the inmates in Manicaland. Besides maize we have a piggery with over 800 pigs and we are doing very well. We have since established an abattoir that we have been using since 2011.”
Mr Sibiya said their horticulture projects were also going on well and were producing vegetables such as cabbages, covo and spinach, to mention but a few.
“We are self-sufficient when it comes to vegetables and we also sell the excess to the market but our main focus is to feed the inmates,” he said.