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Elton Manguwo

GOVERNMENT’S Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme is not just about availing cheap inputs to farmers and fighting food insecurity but signals the transitioning of an ancient practice into contemporary smart precision agriculture at small-scale level.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka said this during an agribusiness conference held in Harare recently.

“We need to learn and adjust. The time is ripe for our farming systems to transition to precision agriculture but we need to start at micro level, at household level and the Pfumvudza programme is packaged in a way that addresses the dictates of precision agriculture at this level,” said Dr Masuka.

The Pfumvudza practice safeguards the principle of using less to produce more, reducing the cost of production that might gate keep the participation of most farmers in the food production sub-sector at a time the country seeks to transform the agriculture sector to be business driven. This dovetails into Government’s thrust of developing rural areas in line with Rural Development Programme 8.0.

Minister Masuka further explained that the Pfumvudza concept was a precise farming model that mutates and takes note of the four project parameters of business – time, cost, quantity and quality. He added that there was need to increase the quality and quantity produced per unit area while simultaneously reducing the cost and time for that unit area.

Moreover, the distribution of inputs in line with agro ecological regions’ dictates will be pivotal in ensuring maximum production and yield. This summer cropping season, the Government will tailor-make the distribution of inputs to ensure crops are grown in areas where they will thrive.

In addition, the Government is targeting 3, 5 million families under this year’s Pfumvudza/Intwasa inputs scheme. This highlights the magnitude of the Government’s ambitions in transforming the country’s agricultural sector.

Amid the ugly realities of climate change that saw a 43 percent drop in food production in the previous season the Pfumvudza programme provides a robust framework that seeks to detail and address the crucial issues of profitability, sustainability and protection of the environment.

Climate-proofed smart agriculture is an initiation of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development’s Green Revolution agenda that seeks to build capacity of the country’s food systems to withstand the extremes of climate change to ensure food security for the nation.

The process of cultivating with hoes, use of organic manure and mulching acknowledges that the soil is a living organism and part of complex ecosystems. The Pfumvudza method of farming addresses the problems of moisture retention, soil acidification while maintaining the soil structure.