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Farai Dauramanzi Herald Reporter

The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has urged farmers to embrace the Smart Agriculture concept that was recently adopted by Government, saying that the use of new technologies will enhance operational efficiencies, reduce costs, improve and increase production and productivity and ultimately profits.

Briefing journalists after a Cabinet meeting last week, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa said that Smart Farming is an emerging concept that refers to managing farms using modern Information and Communication Technologies to increase the quantity and quality of products while optimising the human labour required.

Technologies used in smart agriculture include precision irrigation and precise plant nutrition, climate management and control in greenhouses as well as sensors for the soil, water, light, moisture and temperature management.

The smart agriculture concept also involves the use of software platforms, location systems (GPS and satellite), communication systems — based on mobile connection, use of robots as well as analytic and optimisation platforms.

In an interview with, ZFU director, Mr Paul Zakariya urged farmers to embrace technologies in order to be competitive in the global supply chains.

“The performance of Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is not at its optimum as characterised by low production and productivity.

“The integration of technologies, sensors, big data and artificial intelligence is now happening the world over and Zimbabwean farmers should not be left behind,” said Mr Zakariya.

The farmers union leader added that once production and productivity are enhanced, value addition through the manufacturing sector kicks in thereby creating more jobs.

“Increased production and productivity will increase agriculture contribution to GDP which is currently at around 18 percent.

“Agriculture has potential to create employment, provide raw materials to manufacturing industries and generate foreign currency,” added Mr Zakariya.

However, the ZFU director noted that farmers are not yet ready to fully embrace the Smart Agriculture concept.

“This is expected of any new technology and there is need for other interventions to ensure wider uptake. Key barriers include the initial costs, technical know how and support services like internet connectivity,” noted Mr Zakariya.

In order to support faster uptake, Mr Zakariya suggested that Centres of Excellence must be established alongside demonstration sites throughout the country.

“This will require the active participation of the private sector as well as the development partners,” he said.

The Smart Agriculture concept is a programme that falls under the Smart Zimbabwe Masterplan which the country is pursuing as part of the Vision 2030 goal of a digital economy.