Melinda Kusemachibi
The horticulture training event to be held on May 25, 2022 in Morningside, Masvingo is going to improve agriculture productivity as well as teach farmers about crop production, event host Tinaye Ponde has said.
Ponde said the event will be open to everyone who wants to attend including children.
“We want to make it a family event so children are encouraged to come along and charges are US$ 1 per child and on the tickets it will include lunch and refreshments. The training will focus on crop production, potato farming, cabbage farming, onion production, tomatoes farming, leafy vegetables and nursery management,” said Ponde.
He also said they are mainly targeting new farmers, students, and youths to come and participate at the event.
“We are targeting first time farmers, agriculture students, women, youth, plot holders and extension officers. We are also inviting Agro-houses to come and advertise their products, services and stalls are available at US$50 per stall.
“The event is going to be held at Plot 73 Morningside Masvingo on Africa Day (May 25) and we are going to be charging US$ 10 per person and if they bring their farm manager they pay US$ 15 for two people,” he added.
He went on to say that market crisis is one of the problems which hinders and reduces profit margins.
“Right now we have a crisis of market competition which devalues our produce and reduces our profit margins. But if we can collaborate our efforts and coordinate as farmers, we can all benefit from our various farming enterprise without flooding the market. I would also like to encourage farmers to formalize their business so that we can access international markets to grow the economy in line with vision 2030.
“Also farming is a lifestyle so it is important for children to be exposed to it at an early stage. So we are encouraging parents to bring their children along with them,” said Ponde.
Founder of Unique Farming Solutions (UFS) Pamela Kamuzonda who is also a host at the event said that UFS was found through her passion in farming.
“UFS was founded from my passion to breed my own new crop varieties and finding innovative ways to improve the farming sector in Zimbabwe and UFS training programmes and farming targeting single parents, widows, orphans and other farmers in an effort to empower them, so far we have trained more than 3000 farmers across Zimbabwe,” said Kamuzonda.
Kamuzonda won the award, of Best Agronomist in 2019 and she also writes agriculture article encouraging people to venture into farming.
