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Obert Chifamba
Last week, on Tuesday to be precise, journalists representing all media houses in Harare congregated at the Celebration Centre for the annual Seed Co media luncheon. It was an afternoon of opulent feasting, if you know what I mean. Seed Co public relations and communications manager, Marjorie Mutemererwa was elated hosting the scribes and like she traditionally does, gave them pockets of seed maize ranging from 10kg to 30kg to go and plant at their respective places of origin.

She said they were giving out seed enough to reach quantities of 10 tonnes to the journalists this year and that to me means a lot of yield if the input is put to good use. A 10kg pocket, for instance, can cover a space of an acre, which when properly managed can yield an average of two and half tonnes or even more.

This is a sure boost to food security efforts everybody, Government included, is making especially coming out of a failed season that left silos empty and people struggling to meet their daily food requirements. This is a scenario that should excite maize farmers to produce the cereal this time around because there are yawning markets to gobble it once put for sale after harvest.

Everybody is at the moment worried sick about the food security situation, as we stand on the threshold of a new season. There is just no food and what is currently prevailing is called food insecurity. On the other hand food security is denned as being achieved “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” (World Health Organisation (WHO), 2015).

At the moment, food is not readily accessible to most people. There is just no cash to buy the precious grain, a fact further exacerbated by the reality that the grain too is a rarity on the market, which has pushed Government to intervene with hand-outs.

All things being equal, it is naturally always exciting for farmers to use grain in as many different ways as they want drawing it from their own reserves and not wait for Government’s compassion.

It is also exciting to note that this year’s rainy season started on November 15, 2016 and every part of the country was reportedly covered by the rains that fell. Last year the season only started on December 17, which left many unable to plant and reap anything.

What I am insinuating here is that our beloved scribes should also take advantage of the early setting in of the cropping season to plant the seed and contribute both to household and national food security.

Successful farmers always meet planting deadlines, so don’t wait to carry the seed as part of the Christmas hamper for your families because a day of planting delayed means a loss of 50kg of grain.

It’s up to you to count the days that now stand between you and Christmas, then multiply that by 50 and you can quantify your loss.

That seed is not for sale or for buying the affection of side-kicks or the notorious small houses! The whole idea behind Seed Co’s benevolence is to help boost food security for us and at the same time improve our access to the resource in the wake of the cash constraints our economy is slogging through.

Let’s not even barter trade the seed for other services or commodities but commit it to its proper use. Of course our relationship with Seed Co is symbiotic, we write about them, they give us seed in appreciation, which they are not even obligated to do. A simple verbal thank you can always be enough, so make the most out of the opportunity, dear journos.

I am happy to notice that most of you now know the different agro-ecological regions to which they belong and have used that vital information to choose the seed varieties that perform well in their respective climates.

I hope they will also allow that knowledge to filter to our parents, guardians or friends out there so that when they secure seed they too make the correct choices.

Some farmers are failing to produce competitively not because they are not capacitated in terms of resources but because they are settling for the wrong seed varieties.

The last thing is we should manage the crops we will establish from the seed. Yes, we will all be away at work but just delegating someone to do it does not kill and remember to double-check on how the tasks would have been done.

I have seen farmers being cheated out of many bags of fertiliser, as workers lie that they would have applied it yet they would just have emptied contents into other containers and sold them.

They (workers) always retain the empty bags as exhibits and once the farmer sees them, he is convinced the fertilizer was applied but alas, the condition of the crop will always be indicating otherwise.

Maybe it’s time Seed Co introduces a competition for journalists to prove their mettle in agriculture as well just like they have demonstrated with the pen or mic.