Zimpapers Logo

Obert Chifamba Manicaland Bureau
MANICALAND Province will be the biggest beneficiary of the $70 million fertiliser investment project to be rolled out across the country’s provinces, thanks to its close proximity to the Indian Ocean, which makes it the hub of export and import activities.

A South Korean company, Jodrell Trading, registered as FarmGreen (Private) Limited, will work with Government departments to roll out the project.

This came out during a meeting held in Mutare on Wednesday between Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Monica Mutsvangwa and a delegation from FarmGreen, a leading supplier of liquid-organic fertiliser.

The meeting sought to lay groundwork for the establishment of the company’s biggest fertiliser plant in Mutare. The first such plant was established in Marondera last year. Mutare City Council has since pledged to make available land for the project.

“We have a 100-hectare farm that we are currently leasing to small-scale farmers that are not even managing to pay their rentals so the project can make use of part of that land if the investors are willing,” town clerk Mr Joshua Maligwa told the meeting.

The project needs at least 5 000 square metres of land. Government departments, representatives of local authorities, farmers’ organisations representatives and members of the Manicaland business community attended the meeting.

FarmGreen managing director, Mr Dong Hyeon Kim said they were seeking Government clearance to establish a microbial factory and fertiliser depot in Mutare, which will be the biggest in the country, as they would want to capitalise on its closeness to the port of Beira for importing and exporting products to be used and produced by the plant.

“The project will create in excess of 200 jobs across the country, as we target to have plants in at least eight provinces across the country. FarmGreen targets to provide farmers with the finest quality of both liquid bio-organic fertilisers and pesticides in the most efficient time and space.

“We also want to provide community support for sustainable farming practices that allow farmers to operate and grow at a profitable rate through sound economic decisions,” he said.

The fertiliser is packaged in powder form and is dissolved in 1 000 litres of water for application on one hectare of land. A pack of the organic fertiliser costs $60, which makes it cheaper to use ahead of chemical fertilisers. A hectare requires three packs of the powdered fertiliser for grain crops and six for horticultural crops, which is still cheaper than the costs of using chemical fertilisers.

Research has shown that yields can increase by at least 20 percent where the fertilisers are used, an agronomist with the investors, Mr Moses Mtetwa explained.

The fertiliser can either be applied using knapsack sprayers for smallholder farmers or centre pivots for commercial farmers. Minster Mutsvangwa challenged people in Manicaland to take the programme seriously and urged the implementers to include irrigation schemes in their plans.

“Let’s not waste time but hit the ground running. We must work closely with the investors and where you can include irrigation schemes and even communal farmers along roads, please do so,” she said.