Farming season exposes strained relations

AN elderly woman sucked her teeth and shook her head in disbelief before making off while carrying her hands at her back with dejection after being denied entry to her son’s palatial home in Borrowdale last week.

Her torn shoes, sooty apparel and worn-out bag exposed the hallmarks of neglect.

She was in a state that could make even Rachel, the biblical mother of the nations, weep in her grave.

Even the gardener who had been instructed not to allow her in could be seen shedding tears, though he neither had the social standing nor power to make his boss have a change of heart.

“Just tell her I am not around. I will see her in the village when I get the time,” the son shamelessly said as he boastfully walked in the yard adorned with well-manicured gardens, complete with a swimming pool.

As all this was happening, her daughter-in-law seemed to be in agreement with her husband as they both accused her of witchcraft and blamed their childlessness on the widowed senior citizen.

All the elderly woman wanted was to see her son and at least seek assistance in the form of farming inputs given that the rainy season is just around the corner.

Such are the scenes that are playing out across the country as the nation prepares for the farming season.

WhatsApp messages and letters of request are flying around this time of the year as farmers seek to make hay while the sun is still shining.

Sadly, it is at such times that people seek to settle scores.

On the receiving end are mostly widows, orphans and the elderly, who have no one to turn to for assistance.

You can actually be called names for seeking assistance from siblings, close relatives and friends.

“Why is it that each time it rains, these people start pestering me? They have their own children who should meet the cost of their farming business and not make us suffer because of them,” I heard some people say of their aunt.

“I have routinely been sending seed maize, fertilisers and money for labour to my uncle every season but he hardly ever sends me even a cob of maize come harvest time.

“This time haasi kuzoluma mudhara uyu,” a close acquaintance of mine said at the bar last week.

This, however, differed from the views of Mr Tellmore Nyakabau of Mufakose.

“Whatever happened in the past is now water under the bridge. I will continue doing good to all my relatives so that they learn from their past mistakes. I am certainly going to assist my relatives with farming inputs this season,” he said.

Gentle reader, walking in the capital’s central business district this time of the year, it is unusual not to meet someone carrying a pack of maize seed and fertilisers in preparation for the farming season.

Seed and fertiliser companies are now a hive of activity as people prepare in earnest for the onset of the rains and this time, people are serious given that poor rainfall has been predicted.

Those offering tillage services and extension services are in vogue as farmers seek advice on how to achieve high moisture retention and the type of crops to grow in dry conditions.

Happy farming.