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Lynn Munjanja and Ellen Chasokela

Farmers have commended the Government for  providing agricultural inputs.

In interviews yesterday at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show, farmers hailed Government for the support to the sector.

Manicaland farmer Mr Robert Mandhlazi, who walked away with a tractor for being the best national cotton farmer, said he was very grateful for the support he received from Government and Cottco

“I received inputs from the Presidential Cotton Scheme and Cottco,” he said.

“I want to thank them for giving us inputs and also my agronomist who worked tirelessly with me to achieve this.

“So far I have harvested 40 bales and I am still to harvest more. So in total I will have about 48 bales. What’s shocking is that all these bales are coming from 1,1 hectares of land. Given more land, I will continue to work hard and ensure that I also play a part in improving the country’s economy.

“I urge other farmers to continue working hard so that Zimbabwe regains its breadbasket of Africa status.”

Seed Co Zimbabwe won two trophies for being the Best Overall Exhibitor and Best Display in the agricultural value chain from seed to industry. Seed Co agronomy and extension services manager Dr John Basera said they were very excited that they won the two awards, and it showed they were in line with the theme of the show.

“We are so excited that we won the two awards, the overall exhibitor and best display, it shows that we were in line with the theme, which is technology, innovations and modernisation, which is a critical touch point in transforming our agriculture in Zimbabwe,” he said.

“We need to transform our agriculture, we need to improve efficiencies, and we need to improve productivity so that we can be able to export. What we were showing this year were livelihood -changing technologies and our stand was lively.

“We are so excited and testimonies from our farmers are quite positive and we even used this platform to get insights with regards to the performance of our products, especially in the fields because that is where it matters the most.”

Other winners were FeedMix, Mt Pleasant High School, Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cassava Smartech, Mutare Polytechnic and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.