Farmers urged to embrace horticulture production

THERE is need for farmers to broaden their interests and embrace horticulture as it contributes to global food security through a wide range of nutritious fruits, vegetables and herbs, an agriculture expert has said.

Apart from combating malnutrition, the horticulture industry also offers handsome financial returns for farmers.

Horticulture has also been credited for environmental sustainability as it helps to improve soil health, reduce erosion, and conserve precious water resources.

Horticulture also offers numerous job opportunities and supports local economies, especially in rural areas, by providing a steady source of income.

It also supports economic growth and as such, the expansion of the horticulture industry will have a positive impact on various other industries across the globe.

“Horticulture provides economic benefits by creating jobs and generating revenue through the sale of crops, flowers, and other horticultural products,” said Sales and Marketing Agronomist at SeedCo, Mr Clemence Muchemedzeyi.

“It also helps in improving air quality, controlling soil erosion, and promoting biodiversity by providing habitats for a wide range of wildlife,” he said.

Mr Muchemedzeyi said farmers are encouraged to grow crops like sugar beans, butternut, onions, tomatoes and an assortment of fruits as they can thrive this time of the year.

“We have erratic rainfall patterns and therefore we need to be strategic. Crops like sugar beans and butternut mature less than 100 days after planting. These crops are a good source of starch.

“Farmers who normally rely on selling maize crop can actually benefit from growing these crops as they have better returns.

“Onions and tomatoes are also high value crops that can aid in cash-flows going into the next season. Onions are grown once per year and this is a good time to grow the precious crop,” he said.

Mr Muchemedzeyi said butternuts are a good source of carotene and vitamin C, which are essential in nutrition.

“As farmers take farming as a business, we implore them to make use of hybrid varieties as they give more output per unit area.

“If done well, farmers can easily get two to three tonnes of sugar beans per hectare. With butternut they can get 40 to 60 tonnes per ha, while onions will give them 40 to 60 tonnes per ha.

“On sugar beans, farmers should refrain from the use of retained seed as it can be easily affected by diseases. It also has low yields. Those with irrigation should grab the opportunity and make sure we are food secure,” said Mr Muchemedzeyi.

Manicaland, which lies in the eastern part of the country, is characterised by rainfall of more than 1000 mm per year, relatively low temperatures, high altitude, steep slopes, good soils and a consistent water supply which is ideal for fruits such as bananas, peaches, grapefruits, lemons, naartjies, nectarines, oranges, mangoes, avocado pears and apples.

Crops such as potatoes and vegetables, as well as flowers such as proteas, roses, asters and chrysanthemums can also thrive in Manicaland.

Experts say on the international market, Zimbabwean crops have an edge over those from other countries as they are not genetically engineered.

The southern African country used to export about 85 percent of its flowers to the Netherlands, while about 90 percent of its fresh vegetables landed in Britain, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia.

Eighty 80 percent of fruits were consumed in British and South Africa.

However, the country is currently importing fruits like apples, pears, plums, peach apricots, nectarines and grapes from South Africa due to low production.

Fortunately, new fruit orchards are being established along the Mutare-Harare Highway at subsistence and commercial level, with the hope that these will spur production in the near future.

Challenges blighting the sector include labour shortages, compounded by low wages that have seen most farm workers opting for gold panning.

The highly technical and labour intensive enterprise also requires very high capital, especially for new farmers as they set up infrastructure like greenhouses and cold rooms. Access to finance has been the biggest challenge in the sector as most farmers do not have collateral for loans.