Matabeleland farming preps in false start
ERRATIC diesel supplies have affected farming preparations in Matabeleland region amid revelations the situation is likely to impact negatively on the anticipated crop yield in the area.
Agricultural Technical and Extension Services Department Matabeleland North provincial officer Mr Dumisani Nyoni said the inconsistent supply of diesel has affected tillage programmes in Matabeleland region with the ripple effects likely to affect the previously projected harvest.
“We haven’t had significant supplies of diesel in the region for the past three weeks and this has severely affected our tillage programmes including the one spearheaded by the Government, one that is meant to assist vulnerable farmers. The challenge is being faced throughout the region (in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South province) because Bulawayo is the major fuel distribution centre in the region and we have seen more supplies of petrol compared to diesel,” he said.
Last month the Government launched the national tillage programme to support more than 500 000 smallholder farmers countrywide. This was meant to bring relief to farmers especially in drought ravaged areas whose livestock is too weak to be used as draught power.
The District Development Fund ( DDF) is spearheading the programme after it was allocated $2 million for the national exercise which is running up to January. The programme is expected to cover about 250 000 hectares countrywide.
“To make matters worse most of the animals used as draught power are in bad shape due to drought. Most farmers even failed to utilise the recent rains to till their land as a result of these predicaments,” he said.
The Government has for the last two months been pushing farmers to plant early to maximise on normal rains forecast for the next three months. Weather experts believe the showers that were received three weeks ago in some parts of the country were a precursor to the rainy season. Normal to above-normal rains are forecast from October to December, while normal to below-normal rains are expected in the first three months of next year.
Mr Nyoni said there was a need for the Government to urgently intervene so as to avert poor yields culminating from poor farming preparations further stating that as a department, they were encouraging farmers to practice conservation farming.
“As a department we are encouraging farmers to do basin tillage, which is mostly referred to as conservation farming or agriculture but this is only conducive to communal farmers and those in resettlement areas, not commercial farmers with bigger hectarages. However, this farming method tends to be laborious and as a result most farmers shy away from it,” he said.
Conservation agriculture improves soil structure and protects the soil against erosion and nutrient losses by maintaining a permanent soil cover and minimising soil disturbance. Efforts to get a comment from Matabeleland North District Development Fund co-ordinator, Mr Lawrence Ndebele were fruitless as he said he had been “out of office for some time”.