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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Matabeleland South Province has set a target yield of 9 000 tonnes for wheat planted under Command Agriculture, an official has said. Chairperson of the Command Agriculture provincial coordinating committee, Mr Masauso Mawocha said they had planted on 1 801,7 hectares of wheat against a target of 1 852,7 tilled land.

He said the programme was a great success considering the province was a semi-arid region.

Mr Mawocha said at the beginning of the programme, they had set a target of 2 000 hectares.

“The winter wheat programme has been a great success this time, considering that we have surpassed the tillage for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons,” he said.

Mr Mawocha said the farmers had received implements including seed, chemicals and fertilisers.

He said the wheat programme was only being implemented at irrigation schemes and institutions like Arda.

He added that they had started training farmers on pests and disease control.

“Our officers are busy on the ground training the farmers on pests and disease control methods.

“We are looking forward to a higher yield and would want to ensure that the crop is not destroyed,” said Mr Mawocha.

“You will note that we surpassed our targeted yield by 29 percent on maize put under Command Agriculture, and this has seen more people participating in the wheat programme.”

He commended the level of production by all those who registered under Command Agriculture in the province.

He said they had harvested 10 634 tonnes of maize against an initial projection of 8 243,75 tonnes from 1 648,75 hectares.