The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure and Tanyaradzwa Mujati
MANICALAND has recorded a yield of 412 602 tonnes of grain during the 2022-23 summer season against its annual requirement of 249 922 tonnes, leaving it with a surplus of about 162 680 tonnes, The Manica Post has established.
The harvest, the biggest in decades, was attributed to various agriculture support systems, ranging from the Presidential Inputs Programme (PIP), good rains, increased planted area, training of farmers, capacitation of extension officers and good agronomic practices by farmers, among others.
The Pfumvudza Programme — which supported 428 000 households in the province — was last season increased to five plots of 39mx16m per each household.
Farmers got inputs that are best suited for their agro-ecological regions, including maize, sorghum, pearl millet, soya bean, sunflower and groundnuts.
The package also included water retention enhancers, herbicides for three plots and a fall armyworm control package.
Manicaland’s grain surplus was revealed by the Director for Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services (Manicaland), Mrs Phillipa Rwambiwa, during an interview with The Manica Post yesterday (Thursday).
Mrs Rwambiwa said the province is food secure after recording a record harvest of cereal grains this season.
She said Government will move grain from areas with surplus to those with deficit.
“We had a good season, although we had some dry spells, especially in Mutare District. If we add our sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet and maize production, we get a total yield of 412 602 tonnes, which is above our annual requirement of 249 922 metric tonnes,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa attributed the bumper harvest to various interventions by Government.
“This was mainly due to a good season and the various support and financing systems put in place by Government. These include the PIPs, with the help of the Pfumvudza Programme and training of farmers.
“Apart from the PIP, some farmers got assistance from CBZ Bank under the National Enhanced Agriculture Productivity Scheme (NEAPS) and AFC Bank, although that was to a lesser extent. The major contributor was the PIPs and a good season,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa applauded Government for implementing the Agriculture Recovery Plan, which capacitated extension officers.
“Extension officers received motorbikes and fuel to do extensive coverage of farmers. They have been receiving internet data because we have gone digital in terms of data collection.
“We are getting more accurate data to what is happening on the ground, so there is staff motivation. We really thank Government for capacitating the front-line staff and contributing towards the record cereal grain surplus in Manicaland,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa said this season, the province had 290 00ha under maize and 55 000ha under sorghum.
“We recorded food surplus against a background of depressed yields during the 2021/22 season as a result of extended dry spells. We actually had a deficit during the last season.
“This season the area planted was bigger, and as a result the yield is bigger than that of the previous season. This season, we had both horizontal and vertical increase in terms of production in both the area planted and yield levels.
“In a nutshell, the area put under cereals and the yield levels have increased, meaning we have more grains than last season,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa said the provincial average yield was 1.4 tonnes per hectare.
“We have a provincial average yield, although the various areas have different yields.
‘‘For example, communal areas had the lowest average yield of about 0.8 to one tonne per hectare, while A2 farmers are between eight to 10 tonnes per hectare.
“For the old resettlements, we are talking of four to five tonnes per hectare — but as a province, our average yield is 1.4 tonnes per hectare,” she said.
The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) also has a grain swapping facility where farmers can exchange traditional grain for maize or vice-versa.
Mrs Rwambiwa said preparations for the 2023/24 summer season have started, with major focus being on increasing the yield per hectare.
“Those doing Pfumvudza, this is the time to do mulch harvesting, pot-holing, liming and on our part we also plan to distribute the inputs early.
“Liming should be done three months before planting. Farmers should prioritise the soil conditioning blitz because that will improve the yields.
“We also hope that our agro-dealers are stocking adequate inputs for farmers that finance themselves.
“Our major focus next season is to increase the yield per hectare to an average of 1.6 tonnes per hectare. We cannot continue expanding the planted area for cereals since land is not elastic. We also need to produce cash crops as well, so we are targeting the vertical increase to get an average of 1.6 tonnes per hectare for the province,” she said.
“So far, we have not received our seasonal forecast, but we can also leverage on irrigation schemes to increase production.
“We have about 6 000 farmers in the irrigation schemes, and the irrigable area in the province is around 13 000ha,” she said.
Mrs Rwambiwa also challenged peri-urban and urban farmers to chip in and boast production to narrow deficit gaps.
