The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT will support 400 000 small-holder farmers in Manicaland through the Presidential Inputs Programmes (PIPs) to make the 2022/23 cropping season bigger and better.
The programmes will target small-holder farmers in communal, A1, old resettlement and small-scale commercial farming areas for cereals, horticulture, livestock and fruit production.
This will contribute in ensuring food and nutrition security at household and national level.
The Pfumvudza Programme, which accounted for 56 percent of grain produced in the province last season, will this season support five plots of 39mx16m per each household with an agro-ecological region-specific crop input package for maize, sorghum, pearl millet, soya beans, sunflower, groundnuts, vegetables and African peas.
The package will also include water retention enhancers, herbicides for three plots and a fall armyworm control package.
Acting director, Agriculture Advisory and Rural Development Services (AARDS), Mrs Phillipa Rwambiwa said they have rolled out a provincial plan for the 3022/23 season, adding that it is being cascaded to the grassroots, with a target of 265 000 hectares for maize.
Last season the programme assisted 350 000 households, up from 250 000 registered in 2021.
Manicaland is targeting at least 265 000 hectares of maize, of which 20 000ha will be under Command Agriculture.
The small grains’ target has been set at 100 000ha.
Farmers are expected to produce a least a tonne per each plot.
The programme, sponsored by Government, has come to the rescue of thousands of small-holder farmers whose cattle – used for draught power – succumbed to theilirolisis, among other diseases.
Between January 2019 and March 2022, the province lost cattle with an estimated value of US$700 000 – with small-holder farmers accruing huge losses that compromised their tillage capacity.
However, with this programme, those who lack draught power can still plant, produce enough to feed their families and sale the surplus.
Government will also extend the Zunde raMambo concept to village heads and headmen.
“The distribution of the Pfumvudza inputs for 2022/23 season will be agro-ecological region specific. The package of inputs that a farmer will get is determined by their agro-ecological region. We want to discourage farmers from growing wrong crops in their regions,” said Mrs Rwambiwa.
“Distribution of inputs and seed varieties will be informed by science so that specific crops are grown in areas where they can do well. Our greatest tragedy has been allowing farmers to grow crops not ideal for their regions, resulting in low productivity. Drier parts of Manicaland are ideal for small grains and small livestock.
“Assuming that the 2022/23 season will have erratic rains, farmers in Regions One and Two will get three mandatory maize plots and two optional plots comprising of sunflower, sorghum, pearl millet, groundnuts, African peas and sugar beans.
“Those in Region Three will get two mandatory maize plots and sorghum or sunflower plots and three optional plots for either sunflower, sorghum, pearl millet, groundnuts, African peas and sugar beans.
“Those in the drier Regions Four and Five will have one mandatory sorghum plot, one millet plot and one sunflower plot and two optional plots for maize, African peas, ground nuts, sorghum, millet,” said Mrs Rwambiwa.
She said the input packages will also include lime, basal fertiliser, top dressing, pesticides, folia fertilisers, water retention enhancers for one plot and post-planting herbicides for all plots.
Mrs Rwambiwa said farmers are busy preparing their plots and gathering mulch, and by September should have received their inputs in preparation for planting with the early rains.
“We expect huge contribution from the PIPs as we build up on the gains made last year. The small-holder farmers who took up Pfumvudza diligently produced 56 percent of the grain in the province last season,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa said they have launched a soil reconditioning blitz where they are testing the soil pH in communal areas to ensure that farmers address acidity and alkalinity issues using lime three months before planting.
The soil reconditioning blitz gives farmers information on the nutrient status of their soils, along with recommendations on appropriate dosage of nutrients required to improve its fertility.
“If we get the support we require, we will be able to surpass the target of 400 000 households as well as the 265 000ha of maize. Good rains will also determine the success of the season.
“If all things are equal, these programmes will have a positive impact in the province by ensuring household food security.
“The PIPs will also improve household income, ensure food self-sufficiency and cut the country’s import bill, thereby saving foreign currency at national level,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa said the small livestock programmes seek to commercialise goat and poultry production for improved household nutrition.
Through the Livestock Growth Plan, goats and poultry production have been identified as two of the key areas that can ensure farmer resilience during climatic shocks.
