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Obert Chifamba Eastern Edition
MANICALAND provincial agricultural extension officer, Mrs Phillipa Rwambiwa has warned farmers under the Command wheat programme in Ward 4, Nyanga North, against defaulting on payments for inputs they received from Government, saying such behaviour will kill the programme.

Mrs Rwambiwa, who was guest of honour at a provincial Command Agriculture wheat field day held at Nyatsanza Irrigation Scheme in Ward 4, Nyanga North, said farmers should remember that they needed to keep the programme going by repaying what they would have borrowed from Government so that the revolving programme keeps expanding to accommodate more entrants.

“You must feed the cow that you milk lest it dies and the next thing you do not have the milk that you direly need for survival,” she told the gathering, which included officials from the National Aids Council, Seed Co, Nyaradzo Funeral Services, Ministry of Health and Child Care, Command Agriculture and the district administrator for Nyanga, Mr Shadreck Chingombe.

The field day was organised to showcase a successful 12ha wheat project being run by the group of 52 farmers in the Hwesa area under Chief Katerere.

Members of the scheme received 145kg of Compound D, 95kg of Urea and 27kg of wheat seed each from Government that they are expected to pay back after harvesting.

The crop is almost ready for harvesting and the farmers expect not less than 15 bags or more of the cereal from each of their 0, 23ha pieces of land.

“As you can see we have a very good crop and we will be able to repay Government and remain with enough to sell and generate some income for ourselves. We are also targeting to joining the maize programme for the forthcoming season so that we have crops throughout the year.

“Since the scheme’s establishment in 1993, we have been producing maize, beans and wheat but we have not been able to sell the produce to lucrative markets. The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is in Nyanga, some 100 kilometres away so the costs of taking the little maize that we have been producing there have discouraged us from dealing with the GMB.

“This year we have the best wheat ever, thanks to the Government’s command programme that enabled us to expand our hectarages and also apply herbicides to control weeds, which have been our biggest problem over the years. We expect better yields and better incomes too ,” chairman of the scheme, Mr Stephen Garafa said.

The farmers draw water from Nyatsanza Dam, which flows by gravity to their fields through canals that they maintain religiously clean and unclogged with dirt.

In her earlier remarks, Mrs Rwambiwa had also encouraged more farmers to take advantage of the fact that command agriculture programme did not require any collateral and register not as groups but as individuals so that they would fully enjoy the benefits.

“People have started registering for next season but I would like to advise you to sign for inputs that you can fully utilise so that you don’t get yourselves into unnecessary debts after failing to produce enough to repay the loans.

“You must mobilise all resources at your disposal including animal manure to fertilise your crops so that you produce abundantly and remain with enough to sustain you after repaying what you owe Government,” Mrs Rwambiwa observed.

She also challenged the farmers to keep cropping calendars that would guide them on the choice of crops to grow and the ideal times of the year, while keeping track of developments in the markets.