WE welcome Government’s assurances this week that people must not panic over erratic rains this season because if the worst comes to the worst, Zimbabwe has enough grain reserves.

The rain situation so far points to a possible drought in most parts of the country.

Hopes of a good harvest are vanishing with each passing day, especially in the western and southern parts of the country where even the drought-resistant small grains have been affected by the long dry spell.

We note that Government’s assertion that it will be able to feed the nation if drought eventually occurs emanates from the success of the farming season last year.

That success was anchored on Command Agriculture and the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme, which were supported by Government.

The drought situation we are facing this year gives impetus to observations that the two noble programmes need to be complemented, for the country to be food secure going into the future.

In our view, the most effective way of complementing Command Agriculture and the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme is to introduce a deliberate irrigation programme throughout the country.

In fact, we have been talking about establishing irrigation schemes for a long time, with little being done to implement a comprehensive programme that changes the food status of the country.

Zimbabwe is blessed with many water bodies and reports as of now indicate that most of the water bodies hold enough water to irrigate land for a few years to come.

We are aware of the irrigation policy that was propagated by the previous government led by Cde Robert Mugabe.

The situation we are facing now where Government would have to dig deeper into the grain reserves to feed the nation indicates a greater need to dust up this irrigation policy.

Government should look into this policy, add what is supposed to be added, and implement it immediately as part of its efforts to turnaround the country’s fortunes.

Irrigation should be one of the targets the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement comes up with in its 100-day targets for quick economic wins.

It has been previously indicated that without irrigation, people will perennially turn to Government for food in times of drought.

To avoid such a situation, giant dams like Tokwe-Mukosi in Masvingo should not continue to lie idle in terms of benefiting local communities, especially with irrigation.

We are aware that water from the dam is already being channelled towards the sugarcane plantations in the Lowveld, but nothing has been done so far in terms of ensuring the dam contributes to food security in the province. Imagine the benefits that will accrue in terms of food security if Command Agriculture and the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme are complemented with irrigation?

There is no doubt that our story can change for the better with the adoption of vibrant irrigation systems and water harvesting models that can help us defy natural calamities like droughts.

We already have an advantage in that there are countries like Spain, Brazil and Belarus that have been coming forward in terms of supplying modern irrigation equipment to Zimbabwe.

We have somewhere to start from in terms of the modernisation of irrigation with the availability of such equipment.

Development of irrigation infrastructure will allow the country to grow crops all year round and not only depend on climatic benevolence. We can start with small-scale irrigation projects that are easy to establish and manage, but can do wonders in maintaining food security at the household level.

Irrigation should be treated as a must in areas where water resources are available to ensure that Government does not turn to the Strategic Grain Reserve each time the rains fail.