The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
THE Makoni Agricultural Show takes place tomorrow (Saturday) at Vengere Stadium where hundreds of people are expected to converge.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr John Basera is expected to officially open the show which has grown from a small meeting place for peasant farmers to a fully fledged society of exhibitors from various sectors.
Makoni District agronomist, Mr Mahlupeko Chowafa said Agritex weaned the administration of the show to a six-member committee that is now in charge.
“By Wednesday afternoon, 20 companies had paid for exhibition space and we expect the number to increase. These include insurance companies, seed houses, agro-dealers, bank, micro-finance houses, Government departments, private and public schools.
“The show is now being run by a society comprised of six executive members drawn from the private sector, parastatals and farmers, while Agritex is represented by two members, a coordinator and an advisor,” said Mr Chowafa.
He added: “We have accommodated other stakeholders in our endeavor to grow the show.
“We discovered that we have the same target group. To us, we view them as farmers, but others view them as clients, so it is prudent that we come together and offer the farmers an opportunity to interact with service providers at one place.
“Unfortunately due to an outbreak of January Disease, we are not having the popular livestock exhibition of cattle, sheep and goats this year. We have allowed rabbit farmers to exhibit as we are encouraging farmers to take up small livestock rearing.
“To put icing on the cake, we have 409 Master Farmer graduands who will be conferred with certificates on the day. They were trained in livestock rearing, crop agronomy, farm management and mechanisation,” said Mr Chowafa.
He said there will be a lot of entertainment for all age groups, including musical bands, the Zimbabwe Republic Police canine section and bikes displays, as well as drum majorities and mass displays by schools.
