Fungai Lupande Mash Central Bureau

Mashonaland Central has taken up Command Agriculture as one of its projects under its annual plan with a budget of $82 398 000 for maize, soyabeans, wheat and broiler production, Agritex crops and livestock production officer Mr Stancilae Tapererwa said.

Speaking at a provincial development committee held recently in Bindura, Mr Tapererwa, who chairs the food security and nutrition cluster said funds for the projects are available.

The project will be implemented in all districts except Mbire, which falls in Region 4. Region 4 is too dry for successful crop production without irrigation.

“The 2018/2019 farming years is starting soon and our target is 72 000 hectares of maize at the cost of $984 per hectare,” he said. “The funding is available and with the coming in of Sakunda we have received 180 000 litres of fuel.

“The estimated cost for maize production is $70 848 000 and the funds are available. We have started receiving fertiliser and we will receive seed any time from now. Our target for soyabeans is 5 000 hectares at a cost of $800 per hectare. It will be implemented in all districts at a total cost of $4 million except in Mbire.

“The target for wheat is also 5 000 hectares at a cost of $1 300 per hectare. The total cost is $6,5 million. We are targeting 300 000 birds for broiler production at a cost of $3,50 per bird. This is an ongoing project that is targeting Mazowe, Shamva, Bindura and Mt Darwin. The total cost is $1 050 000.”

Other projects under the food security and nutrition cluster are the rehabilitation of irrigation schemes, dip tank rehabilitation, weir dam construction, bee keeping, nutrition gardens and de-siltation.

“The whole work plan for next year requires $87 357 000 and the bulk of the money is available,” said Mr Tapererwa. “Command agriculture is not considering Region 4 due to past experiences where erratic rains resulted in total write-off of crops. However, places like Rushinga, Muzarabani have been adopted and we are registering for Command Livestock.”

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