Business Correspondent

Seed Co Limited has launched an employee farming input scheme which it believes brings about an opportunity for internal corporate social responsibility and investment.

Through the scheme, employers are encouraged to procure crop seeds for their employees either as a Christmas gift or as a deductible expense with the main goal being to promote workforce productivity and boost employee morale.

The scheme is also seen as a way of managing downtime as well as increasing Seed Co’s market share.

Seed Co Limited’s senior manager for Public Relations and Special Programmes, Ms Marjorie Mutemererwa, said the initiative will advance workforce efficiency and boost employee assurance.

The scheme is also about positively enhancing employer and employee relationships.

Ms Mutemererwa said instead of having their employees roam around looking for seed that is suitable for their ecological regions, employers can purchase on their behalf from Seed Co.

She added that Seed Co will moreover offer good agronomic advice and best cultivating practices to guarantee food security countrywide.

“As Seed Co, we also have new varieties in our product portfolio, in the Mbizi/Dube/Zebra series, we have SC555, a real gem. This variety has become very popular with farmers since it gives improved yields and it is a border to border higher yield,” Ms Mutemererwa said.

Seed Co is the leading producer and advertiser of certified crop seeds in Zimbabwe, providing cross breed maize seed to commercial agriculturists as well as wheat, soya bean, barley, sorghum and groundnut seed.

Seed Co seed maize varietal properties cover every ecological and geographical region of Zimbabwe which include the SC419 (very early maturity),SC657 (medium maturity), SC661 (late maturity) and SC729 (late maturity).

Making a presentation at the same function, Dr Philemon Chitagu, the IPMZ Vice President said issues on employee morale need to be accounted for since it creates employer engagement within an organization.

“According to Gallup, 53 percent of employees are not engaged within the organisation, only 43 percent are engaged which shows they have passion and feeling to be in an organisation”, said Dr Chitagu.

“If employees are engaged, productivity and profitability increases within an organization and there is 77 percent of benefit inside the business with engaged                                                           clients.”

This initiative by Seed Co comes at a time government has put in place various input schemes such Pfumvudza, Presidential Input Scheme and Command Agriculture in an effort to boost the country’s food production and attain food self-sufficiency.