Water: A key ingredient for agricultural success

At the end of this month, the water year lapses and so will all water abstraction agreements entered into during that water year.

APRIL ushers in a new water year and all people and organisations using raw water from Zinwa dams would be oblige to lodge applications for the renewal of their agreements while new players would be required to also lodge fresh applications for water.

What the water year simply means is that Zinwa would have assessed the available water and will now start allocating the water based on availability and the competing needs of those who would have applied for water.

The allocation process is a delicate one as Zinwa tries to balance the needs of competing water users.

What makes the process a delicate one is the fact that water is a highly strategic and finite resource.

It is against this background that the authority calls upon all farmers intending to do winter cropping to ensure that their water budgets are in place and lodge their applications for water in time.

Very often, many farmers do not incorporate water in their budgets when the resource is a vital component for their business.

In fact, for farmers, water is only second to land in terms of importance. However this importance of water in agriculture is often ignored in farming budgets.

This has seen most farmers ending up illegally drawing water from water bodies or failing to pay for the water they use since the cost would not have been incorporated in their budgets.

So as the water year approaches, farmers should remember that their business is hinged on water and must ensure that they have the necessary documents allowing them to draw water for irrigation from Zinwa dams.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Water Act requires all people using raw water for commercial purposes to do so in terms of an abstraction agreement.

Failure to do so constitutes a criminal offence and attracts imprisonment or hefty fines upon conviction.

In addition, Zinwa is empowered by the same law disconnect or cause such use to be discontinued.

All these measures come with huge risks for non- complying farmers. For example, a farmer whose water supplies get disconnected risks, apart from the attendant legal measures, crop loss and no farmer in business wants to find himself in such an unenviable position.

Since water is a f inite resource, Zinwa, during the course of the water year, will not reserve any water allocation for anyone without a water abstraction agreement.

Only agreement holders will have water allocations set aside in the dams. It therefore becomes imperative for those intending to engage in winter cropping to make sure that they get agreements before it is too late.

These farmers should visit their nearest Zinwa Catchment Offices for assistance. In addition these farmers should ensure that their water budgets are accurate and thorough since it would be difficult for them to revise their allocations once Zinwa has finished the allocation process.

So if they under budget, they risk poor yields or crop loss while those who over budget will have to pay for their full allocations even if they do not fully utilise them.

In that regard, farmers need to get expert advice from extension workers or such other competent persons. This will help them reduce the risks associated with inaccurate water budgets.

For more information you can contact the Zinwa Corporate Communications and Marketing Department on pr@ zinwa. co. zw or callcentre@ zinwa. co. zw. You can also like the Zinwa Facebook Page or follow us on Twitter @ zinwawater