Wheat farmers send out equipment SOS

Wheat farmers in Manicaland want authorities to assist them with equipment to harvest their crop, which is ripening, in order to reduce losses. Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU) Manicaland provincial manager Mr Daniel Mungazi told The Herald that most of the early planted wheat crop was almost ready for harvesting.

“The crop is doing well in established fields, especially in Mutasa, Mutare, Chipinge and parts of Makoni district,” he said. “On average, most of the crop is at the vegetative stage, while the early planted crop is now in the reproductive stages.”
Dam water levels, he said, were enough to sustain the wheat crop to maturity.

“The bulk of the crop was planted under Government’s Command Wheat programme, followed by other contractors,” he said. “Farmers have begun requesting for support to access equipment such as combine harvesters, as most of the early planted crop is already at reproductive stage nearing maturity and needs to be harvested before the rain season sets in.”

Meanwhile, provincial agronomist Mr Thomas Sakuhuni has urged farmers to take advantage of the winter season when pests are dormant in order to control them.

The winter cropping season, he said, was important in controlling pests such as the fall army- worm.
“The winter cropping season is the time farmers should be wary of pests such as fall armyworm and cannot afford to relax on the control of such,” said Mr Sakuhuni.

“Fall armyworm lies dormant during winter and does not have much effect on winter crops, which makes it the most suitable time to take measures before it comes back with a vengeance in summer.”

In a separate development, communal farmers in Manicaland Province have been urged to adopt new grain storage technologies and granary models that reduce post-harvest losses to pests while improving food security.

Mr Sakuhuni told The Herald that grain storage required special attention as most farmers were losing out to pests such as the larger grain borer because of poor storage facilities.

“Smallholder farmers in communal areas have been losing grain harvests, especially maize, due to poor storage facilities,” he said. “They can now effectively store their grain in metal silos and super bags, which helps to improve food security.”

Mr Sakuhuni added that metal silos and hermetic bags were developed as valid options and had proven effective in protecting stored grain from attacks by grain pests.

“New technologies in grain storage such as the use of hermetic bags for smaller grain quantities and metal silos have proven to be effective as they prevent invasion of rodents as well as disrupt the necessary conditions for pests to thrive,” said Mr Sakuhuni.

Research conducted by the University of Zimbabwe in 2016 in Mbire and Hwedza districts showed that the hermetic bags and metal silos were capable of cutting off oxygen to weevils that damage grain.

The trials tested a range of possible grain storage options, especially in the context of the emergence of the larger grain borer, which has become a serious threat to household and national food security in the wake of the ongoing climate change.

Mr Sakuhuni said farmers should take time to invest in sprucing up storage facilities to guard against the “sell low” “buy high” syndrome, as they prepared for the 2018-19 summer cropping season.