‘Zim agric sector geared for growth’ Ivan Craig
Ivan Craig . . . “Command Agriculture is the way to go and we should have started that a long time ago”

Ivan Craig . . . “Command Agriculture is the way to go and we should have started that a long time ago”

The curtain comes down on the 106th edition of the Harare Agricultural show today. The exhibition was held under the theme, “Climate Resilience: The New Agricultural Frontier” and as usual, provided a peek into what Zimbabwe can produce and showcase to the world in terms of its produce. Our Agriculture Reporter Brenda Ziga (BZ) yesterday spoke to the chairman of the Harare Agricultural Show Society, Mr Ivan Craig (IC) about the annual showcase and other issues relating to the country’s biggest industry. Below is their conversation.

BZ: How would you describe this year’s edition of the Harare Agricultural Show in terms of exhibits and turnout, both in quality and quantity?
IC: You find that the response of both the companies which were exhibiting and the individuals who have come to attend the show was overwhelming in the sense that most of the stands were taken for exhibits and we also had a few new companies coming in as exhibitors.

You will also find that the exhibits coming in were of high quality and quite modern in terms of machinery and implements. If you look at one simple example I can give is the machinery and implements in the agricultural sector. This year we had one of the biggest tractors ever. We have never had a tractor of about 550 horsepower.

So basically in terms of the exhibits, the corporates have faith in our economy because there is no way that companies would bring in new machinery, new implements and new stuff to exhibit when they know the economy is going down. So really I like their optimism and things are happening here.

You also find in terms of the response from the people who walked through the gates, you find that a lot of people for the first time, usually on Mondays and Tuesdays there are traders days or business days where you find mainly corporates, but this year we had a good response from people who were just walking in, visiting stands and making enquiries.

Some actually committed themselves in terms of purchases and the like. If you look at children as well, we also had quite a lot of children coming in to look at the show, which is quite good. I actually encouraged that children come to the show and take part in it.

Before, there used to be career guidance, so if you have children coming in and looking at what is being exhibited, that inspires them and helps them to make a decision on what it is they want to do after they have finished school.

BZ: Were there any foreigners exhibiting at the show this year?
IC: Yes, they were. I do not have the statistics right now but we did have foreigners exhibiting. Talking of foreigners, I like it because I was hosting the Honourable Vice President of Sierra Leone and he was with his team, the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Media. What they were saying was that they also want to come and exhibit in the future shows.

So it really is a show which is attracting foreign exhibitors. Next year Sierra Leone might be one of these exhibitors in our show.

BZ: How relevant is this year’s theme, “Climate Resilience, the New Agricultural Frontier?”
IC: This theme has come at the right time. This is not to say that people are predicting a bad season or climate change but it is something that people have experienced.

You will find that the theme is quite relevant because the people who have come here are keen to learn all the new techniques, especially mitigation measures, which people can use to harness the little rainfall for the benefit of their crops.

I am happy that our farmers at whatever level from communal level to commercial farmers are geared for it and keen to learn new harnessing methods and new mitigation measures.

They are also prepared to look at drought tolerant crops and drought tolerant varieties, those which adapt to different conditions.

I am pleased that everybody is fully aware of what is taking place with all these changes. It is not only that, but we are also educating farmers that this can also be reversed, it will take time, but it can be reversed by not destroying our vegetation and also by planting trees.

BZ: People have been talking about climate change. What are the gains recorded so far in combating the phenomenon?
IC: Mainly it is the agronomic or agricultural practices and adapting those new techniques and the like. The simplest thing like land preparation is something which farmers are following. Selection of crops and selection of varieties is also something they are following.

Planning as well. When to do critical operations like your planting? When it rains, what do I do to harness this water and other things like that. So there are quite a few which farmers have adapted.

I am quite happy to report that in some areas where we were hosting some fieldwork, some have already started practising that. So what we need to do is to improve on what they have started already.

BZ: What is your assessment of irrigation schemes that are mostly suggested as the panacea to climate change woes?
IC: You know irrigation is the way to go but what we need to work on, we have plenty of dams in the country, however, some of them have silted and there isn’t much water. I was in Mutasa this past Wednesday and out there, they are trying to clean the dam so that they remove all the silt and ensure that it is revamped and repaired.

However, it seems like it is not working because there isn’t appropriate equipment to do that. So while irrigation is the way to go, we have to ensure that our water reserves are repaired and fully functional so that we don’t invest in irrigation when we don’t have water to make sure that it operates at full capacity.

Irrigation is definitely the way to go, particularly drip irrigation. We don’t have much water, so if we use the overhead, the centre pivot and the like, they require a lot of water to operate whilst the drip irrigation does not need a lot of water. It drips into the soil and benefits the plant directly.

Fertiliser use efficiency as well is experienced because you are putting your fertiliser for top dressing in the water and by the time it drips it has fertiliser in the irrigation system. So we are definitely encouraging farmers to go the irrigation route.

If you look at the farmer who won this year, in the agri produce section, she is a lady based in the Kadoma, Sanyati area. She has one hectare in her homestead of drip irrigation. In her field she has five hectares under drip irrigation. On those five hectares, she is doing green mealies and whatever she doesn’t sell she harvests for grain.

On the one hectare she is doing horticulture. She is doing extremely well. They drive a vehicle, she has got a tractor and they have children in school and the like. That is her source of income. Imagine if she didn’t have irrigation, there is no way she was going to manage all those things but because of irrigation she is able to do so.

BZ: What is your assessment of the quality of the produce nationwide?
IC: If I am to look at the quality of produce nationwide, you find the produce has quite a wide range. There is a diversification being practised by farmers. They have managed to do so in terms of crops. There are crops which are ideal for their ecological regions where they are based and farming.

I went to Mwenezi and they are into small grains, which are drought tolerant and drought resistant as well and yielding quite a lot. They were expecting about 2,5 to three tonnes per hectare.

They are also combining drought tolerant crops with some mitigations on the climate change, which is important and encouraged. You also find that whatever they are growing, they are also fully maximising that by preparing dishes or meals, which is a good thing as well.

Some people think that when they grow certain crops they are only for market and not for use. So when you look at vegetables, you will find that farmers are growing beetroot. Who would think that a communal farmer would grow beetroot? Who would think that a communal farmer would grow turnips or radish or carrots and the like? But they are growing these types of vegetables, look at cauliflower and broccoli, they are growing those.

Of course it is for the market but they are also consuming such vegetables in their homesteads. This means that farmers are learning quite a lot in terms of nutrition. We also look at balance of nutrition and this is important.

When you look at the quality of the produce, it is of export quality. You can think of exporting it to any country in the world and it will be accepted because it is high quality. One exciting thing that I have learnt throughout the shows is that farmers are now realising the importance of value addition.

They are not only growing and selling but some are growing on the farm, picking on the farm and selling to the community and some supermarkets around at a higher value. As a result, the return per dollar invested in farming is going to be higher. There is a lot happening in the farming sector and farmers are quite happy with the progress.

BZ: Government recently introduced Command Agriculture. What is your view on that?
IC: The Command Agriculture is the way to go and we should have started that a long time ago. If I am to change the term from command agriculture and call it targeted agriculture, where we are targeting good potential farmers with the capacity in terms of brains, implements and financing as well, whereby we target those farmers and ask them to voluntarily produce food for the country.

There are ready markets and there is ready funding to produce, so for me it is a good tool and it will definitely work. This will benefit the country in a big way and also benefit our food security and the economy of the country at the same time.

BZ: Can Zimbabwean products fend off competition in terms of supply and quality? This has been a raging debate especially after SI64 was introduced.
IC: Definitely, they do qualify and they do compete fairly well. Remember the farmers we are using are the same farmers who were farming in the communal areas. The difference now is that they have been given a bigger farming area. The only challenge affecting the farmers at the moment is funding.

There isn’t funding to support farmers in Zimbabwe at the moment of which we hope that the banks and corporates can come in and fund agriculture. There is need for long-term funding at very cheap rates with soft terms. This is what is affecting the quality and productivity. Those who are able farm on a smaller area ,which is fully funded you find that we have no issue at all.

Look at our tobacco, it is competing very well because it has full support of the banks and the corporate world. That is the solution to that issue.

BZ: So what are the future plans for the Harare Agricultural Show?
IC: The future plans for the Agricultural Show are to grow bigger both locally and internationally. What we have said here is that this is a hub of the agricultural activities. You find that during the quiet period when the shows are not on, we conduct seminars and training workshops for farming as whole and for the corporate world.

We hope to reach out to some neighbouring countries and move internationally as well so that it becomes an international show where we have exhibitors from all walks of life. We want to make it a hub of information where farmers can say that if they want anything to do with agricultural business, they have to come to the show offices and get as much information as possible.

BZ: What is the relevance of agricultural shows at ward level, district level and provincial levels?

They are very important because we have set here at the Harare Agricultural Show, which is the National Agricultural Show, to entertain the people who have achieved good results in their ward, district and province.

In terms of farmers who come to exhibit here, we encourage that agricultural extension offices out there, recommend to us the people who qualify to come and exhibit at the Harare Agricultural Show, because if we take people directly from the ward, district or province to come and exhibit at the Harare Agricultural Show, you will find that indirectly we are discouraging people from taking part in shows in their respective areas.

So to promote that, we say that we only accept people who have a history of exhibiting at ward, district and provincial level.

Competition is about growth. When you are at a ward or district show, it means you are doing it at a smaller scale. As you qualify to come to national, your exhibit and quality of stuff is at a higher, national if not international standard.

So you can’t just come here straight and expect to perform at an international standard. You have to start somewhere, practice as you grow. These shows are very important and very relevant to this national show and we encourage farmers to start as low as ward until they qualify to come to a national show.

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