Trust seeks to put 500ha under winter maize

Masvingo Development Trust is this year planning to put 500 hectares under winter maize in the Lowveld, as the organisation moves to ramp up aggregate grain output and boost income to finance various developmental projects across the province.

The trust is the brainchild of the Zanu-PF Masvingo political leadership, with former provincial Governor and ruling party Secretary for Production and Labour in the Politburo Cde Josaya Hungwe as its patron.

Other ruling party heavyweights from the province such as party Secretary for Security Cde Lovemore Matuke (chairperson), are active members of the trust together with the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs Cde Ezra Chadzamira, who is vice chair.

The trust, which is a private entity, was founded to identify and invest in quick-win profitable projects whose proceeds would be used to engender socio-economic upliftment across Masvingo.

Cde Hungwe yesterday said the trust’s partnership with Lowveld sugar producer Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe would be further expanded this year to produce more winter maize.

He said they would soon engage the sugar producer’s acting chief executive Mr Aiden Mhere to ask for more irrigable land to expand the maize project.

“We will soon be meeting with Tongaat management so that we request for more land to grow winter maize this year, more so as our province was one of the places affected by drought leading to general crop failure in most areas,” said Cde Hungwe.

“Our target this year is to increase the hectarage under winter maize to 500ha from the 300ha that we had last year and we are quite confident that Tongaat will accede to our request for more irrigable land.”

Cde Hungwe said they were also mulling developing irrigation land downstream of Tugwi-Mukosi Dam for growing winter maize.

“Our teams will also be scouting for irrigable areas so that we can take advantage of Tugwi-Mukosi water to grow winter maize, particularly close to the perennially-flowing Tugwi River,” he said.

Cde Hungwe said the Trust would continue to explore avenues of increased co-operation with Tongaat Hulett to produce more maize and ensure food self-sufficiency in the province and also boost revenue through more grain sales.

Last year, the trust grossed more than $600 000 after partnering Tongaat for a similar venture and the proceeds were used to purchase a rig to drill affordable boreholes to rural communities across the arid province.

The winter maize initiative was conceived by Cde Hungwe when he was still Masvingo Governor following a crippling drought that swept through Zimbabwe in 1991.

Cde Hungwe persuaded Tongaat to invest in winter maize to ameliorate the effects of that crippling drought, taking advantage of Masvingo’s high dam density which could be tapped for irrigation.