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Columbus Mabika Masvingo Correspondent
Traditional leaders here have challenged communities to grow drought-resistant crops and short-season maize varieties to alleviate hunger and reduce the effects of climate change.

Speaking at a Syngenta-organised field day at Mr Jefta Hamandawana’s homestead in Gutu last Friday, chief Gutu (Mr Amon Masanganise) said smallholder farmers should take the changes in weather patterns seriously and shift towards drought-tolerant crop varieties.

“We are taking every opportunity to tell farmers to prioritise the growing of drought resistant varieties, small grains and early maturity maize varieties,” he said.

“The rains are no longer reliable as they were in the past. They continue to be scarce every season. I urge all farmers in this area to take a leaf from Mr Hamandawana, who opted for the drought-resistant Syngenta seed and produced more despite little rains,” he said.

Chief Gutu said the knowledge and skills empowering programmes offered by Syngenta to smallholder farmers was yielding positive results.

Another traditional leader, Chief Serima (Mr Vengai Rushwaya) urged farmers to work with agricultural extension officers for advice on how to pro0duce more with low rainfall.

“Our communities are growing. The population is also growing, meaning we must be prepared to produce more food for the people despite the changing climatic conditions,” he said.

“These field days are there to encourage farmers to continue working for better yield. I have realised that most of the crops are grown for home consumption, but we must surplus for the market,” he said.

Chief Serima said it was the traditional leaders’ responsibility to ensure their subjects had enough food.
Syngenta sales and support manager Moses Kudanga said his organisation was working to ensure that drought resistant maize varieties are accessible to small holder farmers throughout the country at affordable prices.

“We are happy that the MRI 514 and MRI 624 performed well in all climatic conditions around the country, this coming season we are working flat out to ensure that the varieties are accessible at affordable prices,” he said.

“Field days provide the best platform for us to share experiences with farmers and educate each other on the most appropriate seed varieties with high yield for particular communities and how to manage the crop.

“We are happy that our seed has managed to produce high yields this season despite drought. We have short-season seeds, which can produce more despite low rainfall.”

Syngenta is an international seed company operating in over ninety countries world over.
It produces drought-resistant seed varieties that are adaptable to different weather conditions.

In Zimbabwe, Syngenta has supplied farmers with the MRI 514 maize seed variety, which is an early maturity variety, and the MRI 624, which is a medium maturity variety.