By Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI-Former Chiredzi Town Council Chairperson and farmer Francis Moyo recently appreciated his farm cane cutters with excellence awards amounting to US$10000.
Moyo held the awards ceremony at his Buffalo Range farm, where 38 of his cane cutters received awards based on their cutting performances, with the best cane cutter, Wonder Moyo who harvested 68 bundles walking away with a scotch cart, abicycle, wheelbarrow, a hoe and a branded cup.
Speaking during the ceremony, Zimbabwe Sugarcane Research Experiment Station (ZSAES) Senior Research Plant Pathologist Petros Zvoutete said like any other farm employee, a cane cutter is a valuable asset as his work, and if done properly, will ensure a better harvest in the following season.
“Cane cutters are not just valued at the number of bundles they harvest, but how they harvest the cane, with base cutting being recommended as it promotes the next ratoon to produce more sugarcane. As ZSAES, we used to have these cutting competitions and local levels which later grew to international level where we competed with Eswatini and Mozambique,” said Zvoutete.
Chiredzi Productive Cane Growers Association (CPCGA) Chairperson, Collins Changamire, who was the guest-of-honour encouraged sugarcane farmers to give value to all farm workers, including irrigators and weeders, as they all give value to the crop.
“Today we are celebrating the hard work which was exhibited by cane cutters though however we should also recognize the work done by all farm workers including fertilizer appliers and irrigators. Their contribution is all aimed at giving the best results at the end,” said Changamire.
Francis Moyo, who won an Excellent Farming Award last year from Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe (THZ), had an average yield of 80 tonnes per hectare, with a total average of 8000 tonnes of cane delivered to Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe this season.
