Power cuts threaten irrigation farming in Zaka

Smallholder farmers here are concerned with intermittent power cuts and high electricity bills they owe the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), which is likely to affect both the winter wheat and maize crops.

The farmers said yesterday that they have started counting their losses as their crops are now wilting due to lack of irrigation water.

“Irrigation farming requires electricity to pump water from the dam into canals, but we spend the whole day without electricity and working in the middle of the night (when there is electricity) makes our lives difficult,” said Mr Takawira Magara, a farmer at Nyatare irrigation scheme.

Mrs Juliet Moyo said inflated power bills were a headache for most plot holders.
“Every month, we collectively pay up to $1000 and that is affecting us as we are not producing much due to crop failure linked to power outages.

“Recently, we incurred huge losses after our sugar beans crop wilted because of irrigation water shortages,” said Mrs Moyo.
Zaka’s head of Agriculture Extension Services, Mr Kennedy Pedzisai said recurrent power cuts were an impediment to irrigation based farming in the area, especially at Mabvute and Nyatare projects.

“The plot holders there have continually expressed concern over the sudden increase in daily load shedding schedules which forces them to work in the middle of the night.

“They allege such a development is exposing them to the cold weather and the latest set up has negatively affected their irrigation cycles,” he said.

Mr Pedzisai said wheat at the two irrigation schemes was close to flowering stage and required a lot of water.
A snap survey by The Herald at the schemes recently showed that crops including wheat, sugar beans and maize were suffering from severe moisture stresses due to the recurrent power cuts that scuttled irrigation farming.

Zaka District Development Coordinator, Mr Ndeya Nyede said he will engage the power utility on the way forward.
“We are going to meet Zesa officials to make sure we find working solutions on power cuts,” he said.

“Agricultural activities, especially irrigation schemes are very important and their development and increased productivity is in line with the Government’s Command Agriculture initiative,” he said.

Zaka district is a drought prone area where irrigation farming and livestock production are the main sources of income for communal farmers.