Obert Chifamba Agri-Insight
AS we splashed and squelched our way through a season in which heaven’s flood-gates seemed to have been opened and no-one was there to shut them back, we still knew that the nicest thing about rains is that they would always stop. Eventually.

We also knew that the season would either be very fruitful or ruined. But rains always save crops and boost food security. Zimbabwe’s 2016 /17 farming season was saddled with very high expectations for a bumper harvest, thanks to Government’s Command Agriculture programme. And indeed these anticipations are turning into a reality.

Farmers can usually cope far better with rains way above average than even a modest drop from normal.

There will be a bumper harvest and there will be no food shortages. Grain will be moved from surplus to food deficit areas.

The bottom line is the country will have enough food.

One thing for certain is that Government will be rolling out the programme again next season and better results are even expected. This initial outing has been quite a learning curve and we expect all parties involved in the programme to have learnt a thing or two so they will perfect their act in the next outing.

I had a chance to listen to farmers’ sentiments on this year’s Command Agriculture programme and how it was rolled out. They are giving mixed signals but the pleasing thing is that the commonest sentimentalities acknowledge the success of the programme though there were some grey areas that now need to be perfected.

Many farmers feel there was too much paperwork accompanying the programme, which they said naturally disrupted their work schedules significantly. Of course the Government can always stress that paperwork is necessary to avoid double allocation of resources or for proper record keeping but the farmers think “too much voucher works” and no action on the field was not good for the programme.

They would rather everything was done once and for all then the stage would be set for productive activities.

The biggest undoing to the programme, as most farmers conceded was the late distribution of inputs, which they blamed on failure by authorities to decentralise services, as most of them needed to travel to access some of the basic amenities.

One farmer said: “Logistical problems on how we could get all the inputs we needed close to us instead of travelling to Harare or a nearby town have been our biggest undoing this time around. Inputs were literally trickling in late and in most cases our allocated quantities were not supplied at once so planning was difficult, as we had to use our own inputs at times.

“I received Compound D fertiliser well after my maize had grown past the knee-high stage so I had to store it for the future. That, I must agree, compromised the yields that I was expecting. We also need working capital so that we can engage casual labourers especially as we do not have many people from the family to get all tasks done.”

Of course this farmer’s sentiments made sense to me. The farmers sometimes get overwhelmed with pressure to complete tasks yet they will be short of manpower so they need working capital. Still on capital, some farmers also felt that it was crucial for Government to establish equipment repair and maintenance centres out in the farming communities, as some of them find it difficult to take broken down implements to specialists located far away especially in urban areas.

The farmers also need cash for the repairs especially given the fact that they are seasonal earners. Maybe Government could also set up a loan facility that allows farmers to have implements serviced or repaired at such centres and later recoup its money after the farmers harvest and deliver.

I also observed that farmers in different parts of the country struggled to contain the fall army worm pest and from reports I gathered the pest in some areas seemed resistant to the chemical farmers applied to exterminate it, which means extension officers may need to help farmers identify the most appropriate chemicals to use in their regions.

Some farmers reportedly struggled to contain weed infestations because of the incessant rains that made it difficult to apply herbicides affectively but still needed advice from extension workers on how best they could smother the challenge- something many of them concede was not readily happening.

From my little knowledge on use of herbicides, I think farmers also need to be educated on the different chemicals that work well in their soils to contain weeds of different nature that occur in their different agro-ecological regions.

To give next season’s Command Agriculture programme a head start, I guess Government needs to start identifying farmers that are interested now and even begin input distribution so that by the time the season starts all farmers will be ready with all inputs in place.

The problem of recruiting farmers for the programme while the season is already underway makes logistical planning very difficult both for Government and the farmers.

It also makes it difficult for Government to mobilise all the required inputs before the most productive moments of the season are lost. The best maize crop is usually planted in October when there are abundant heat units that set the tone for successful growth. In that regard Government also needs to up its game in setting up irrigation infrastructure in those areas where there is water that can be used productively but will be lying unused.

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