President Mnangagwa said time has come for Zimbabwe to produce enough food for itself and even surplus for export because it has vast arable land. Cde Mnangagwa said Government on its part will support farmers through farm mechanisation, modernisation and provision of reliable energy supplies to ensure maximum production.

Speaking after visiting Kunatsa Estate owned by Mr Doug Munatsi of Bindura district in Mashonaland Central province on Friday, President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe had the capacity to produce enough food for its consumption and even surplus for export in the next three to four years.

He said time has come for the country to say goodbye to food imports and all that is needed is dedication and hard work by those allocated land under the land reform programme. President Mnangagwa said farmers should be able to grow crops throughout the year taking advantage of the abundant water in the dams and weirs throughout the country.

“Going forward there must be a corresponding relationship between one’s level of mechanisation and production”, said Cde Mnangagwa. Kunatsa Estate is harvesting 350ha of wheat and 150ha of barley grown under irrigation this winter.

President Mnangagwa said the mixed farming at Kunatsa Estate which includes cropping, dairy, beef and poultry as well as honey production, had created employment as well as empower local communities.

The country needs more farmers like Mr Munatsi who are fully utilising the land not just for their benefit but the nation at large.

More than 300 000 families were allocated land, some in prime farming areas that used to be a preserve of white commercial farmers and therefore each and every farmer allocated land should strive to be as productive as farmers like Mr Munatsi.

We totally agree with President Mnangagwa that given Zimbabwe’s vast arable land and human resources, there is no reason for the country to import food. The farmers demonstrated during the first season of Command Agriculture that they have the capacity, not just to produce enough for the country’s consumption but even surplus for export when about four million tonnes of grain was harvested.

We want to implore farmers to be on the land to produce so that Zimbabwe regains its status of being the region’s breadbasket. Government has completed the land audit and all those that are not fully utilising the land and others who got the land for speculative purposes should be removed from the land so that it can be allocated to those prepared to produce for the nation.

Land, we have said it before, is a finite resource and as such should only be allocated to committed and dedicated farmers so that the nation benefits. The good news is that Zimbabwe like other countries in the region, is expecting above normal rainfall this coming cropping season and land preparation should now be in full swing.

It is our hope that companies producing inputs such as seed and fertilizer have stocked enough for the season.