VAYA Digital Farmer calls for early winter crop farming preparation

AhEAD of the winter farming season, VAYA Digital Farmer (VDF) is urging farmers to start land preparations early to maximise productivity and boost their yields.

Although wheat is a major winter crop in Zimbabwe, its yields have been declining over the past few years due to lack of ideal farming equipment, gaps in technical knowledge and inclement weather conditions, among other setbacks.

To address these ongoing challenges, EcoCash holdings Zimbabwe Limited introduced VDF — a pan-African platform that leverages technology to offer digital agricultural solutions to individual farmers, governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), farmers’ unions and various stakeholders in the agriculture value chain.

Through its VAYA Tractor platform, the VDF is playing a key role in enabling farmers without machinery to hire tractors, ploughs, combine harvesters and other essential equipment at very competitive rates.

“We are empowering farmers to order tractors using the VAYA Africa mobile application or via USSD, allowing them to implement mechanization technology using their phone,” a VAYA spokesman said.

“We have an array of farm equipment that has been placed on our digital platform allowing farmers to request service. The platform then matches the request with the closest available equipment, which is subsequently deployed,” he said.

“For any cropping venture to be successful, it is important to start on time. The optimum planting dates for wheat are between mid-April (or earlier in the Lowvelds) and the last week of May.

“Sometimes planting time can be extended to mid-June though this is not normally recommended. Delayed planting after May results in a loss of about 50kg per hectare per day,” the VDF spokesman added.

Agronomists say planting on time enables farmers to avoid frost conditions during critical growth stages of wheat, like flowering to avoid high disease and pest pressure during the months of August and September when the crop is in the post-anthesis (grain filling) stage.

VDF said wheat farming has a very lucrative return on investment.

Following the government’s import substitution drive, local wheat production will result in foreign currency savings, the company said.

Zimbabwe’s national annual wheat/flour requirement is about 350 000 metric tonnes. Over the years, Zimbabwe has been producing less than a quarter of that amount.

VDF added that producing wheat locally will create direct employment, at farm level, and indirectly through upstream and downstream industries such as milling, baking and food outlets.

To access the VAYA Tractor services in Midlands, farmers can get in touch with Pride Gonde and Catherine hasha on +263774222036/774222905, while those in Matebeleland can contact Nkosilathi Mpofu on +263771222338.

Liberty Kwasha is available to assist farmers in Manicaland on +263777222311.

In Masvingo there is Anos Chisara who can be contacted on +263774222757, while in Mashonaland East, Energy Maposa is available on +263774222213.

Farmers in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West can get in touch with Emmerson Zimuto and Tendai Mushonga on +263771222814 and +263777222281, respectively.