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From George Maponga in Masvingo

Disaster looms in the Lowveld sugarcane industry with major dams that supply irrigation water to over 40 000 hectares of sugar cane in Chiredzi and Triangle reportedly left with less than two months’ supply of water.Irrigation water supplies to cane plantations at Triangle and Hippo Valley would be disconnected on December 15 by Zinwa unless supply dams in the Mutirikwe/Tokwe river system get reasonable inflows.

Dams in the Mutirikwe/Tokwe river system namely Lake Mutirikwi, Bangala and Muzhwi supply water to irrigate over 70 percent of the entire area under sugar cane in the Lowveld.

The three dams supply irrigation water that supply Hippo Valley,Triangle and Mupapa estates, which straddle over 40 000 hectares.

Sugar producer Tongaat Hulett owns cane fields that cover nearly 30 000 hectares at Triangle and Hippo, with out-growers who are mainly beneficiaries of the Government’s land reform programme owning plantations that extend over 15 000 hectares.

Poor rains caused by the El Nino-induced drought in the last rainy season saw dams in the Mutirikwe/Tokwe river systems recording very insignificant inflows hence critically low water levels in the reservoirs.

Water level in Lake Mutirikwi, which is Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam, now stands at 8,6 percent while Bangala is 12,6 percent full with Muzhwi currently at 10,1 percent.

So dire is the irrigation water supply situation in the Lowveld that Zinwa is now giving farmers 63 percent of required quantities to make sure the dams do not dry up early.

The shortage of water has raised the panic button among players in the Lowveld sugar cane farming industry amid fears it might impinge on cane yields next year.

Zinwa corporate communications and marketing officer Mr Tsungirirai Shoriwa on Wednesday confirmed that the irrigation water supply to the Lowveld would be stopped on December 15 unless dams in the Mutirikwe/Tokwe river systems recorded new inflows.

He said the decision to stop irrigation water supplies to the Lowveld cane fields on December 15 if there were no new inflows was made in consultation with the sugar cane estates in the Lowveld.

He allayed fears that the stoppage would cause widespread damage to the cane crop.

“ZINWA has been working closely with water users in the Lowveld and Masvingo City Council on how the available water can be sustainably utilised in the face of the drought.

“For example water supplies to the sugar cane estates are currently reduced to 63 percent of the requirement,’’ he said.

‘’ZINWA and the sugar cane estates agreed on the modalities of water releases to the sugar cane plantations, which will see supplies to the estates being stopped if there are no inflows by December 15, 2016.

The date was arrived at after consultations with the sugar cane estates established that stopping supplies around that time would not cause damages to the crop,,’’ said Mr Shoriwa.

The water supply situation was comparably better in the Siya/Manjirenji river systems which irrigate the 4 000-hectare Mkwasine Estates in eastern Chiredzi.

Mr Shoriwa said Siya Dam was 28,2 percent full with Manjirenji standing at 11,9 percent.

Sources in the Lowveld sugar cane industry said the higher water levels in Siya and Manjirenji would be able to support cane irrigation activities at Mkwasine until early next year, provided there are no new inflows in the two dams.

The precarious water levels in Lake Mutirikwi have been exacerbated by the fact that Zimbabwe’s largest inland dam is also the sole source of water for the nearly 100 000 inhabitants in Masvingo city.

Tongaat corporate communications manager Ms Adelaide Chikunguru-Musvovi could not be reached for comment.

Zimbabwe is expected to produce nearly 480 000 tonnes of sugar in the

2016 /17 season that ends in December but the figure is likely to go down in the following season owing to shortage of water to irrigate the current crop that will be harvested next year.

There have been growing calls for the Government to speed up completion of Tokwe-Mukosi Dam so that it can start receiving water that will augment water for irrigation at Triangle and Hippo Valley together with opening of new cane estates at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi.