By Meditation Mposi
Farmers at Rufaro Irrigation Scheme in Masvingo North have raised concern over continuous electricity shortages hitting the province which they said was adding to water shortages farmers were already facing due to the El Nino-induced drought.
Speaking during a winter wheat field day at Rufaro Irrigation Scheme on August 28, Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira said most irrigation schemes were being affected by power outages which made it difficult for farmers to get enough water for the crops.
“There is an outcry in irrigation schemes over power cuts which has left us doubting whether it is load shedding, electricity faults or sabotage. Farmers spend the whole day without electricity only to have electricity at around 2200hours then it is switched off at 0400hours, which shows farmers are not being prioritized in electricity distribution.
“We have agreed with Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to give farmers priority on the little electricity available for sustenance of agricultural projects. In as much as there are faults and load shedding, the agricultural sector should be prioritised,” said Chadzamira.
Chadzamira further urged Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) and its partners to drill more boreholes to complement the existing presidential borehole scheme to assist farmers with water for their projects.
“The Presidential Borehole Scheme is there to provide boreholes to each ward across the country. Water is a necessity to farmers and agriculture is now the greatest business. These projects must be taken seriously for they give us food and money to survive. The next time l come here I want to see progress from ZINWA,” said Chadzamira.
Masvingo North Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Brian Mudhumi said the ongoing load shedding and poor response from ZESA was affecting the pumping of water for irrigation.
“When we report to ZESA officials about electricity faults, they give us low voltage power to operate the pump, even when we report problems they do not respond in time, sometimes they say they have no fuel and I give them only to respond after three or four days. If the province is to achieve its target for wheat then ZESA needs to take irrigation schemes seriously,” said Mudhumi.
ZESA representative at the field day, Alpha Mataga promised to do better and to hand over the plea to his bosses for better services.
“For the past weeks there was load shedding due to some technical issues. The other unit which supplies electricity was down. Farmers must report faults so that they can be fixed on time,” said Mataga.
ZINWA officials present at the tour also promised to drill another borehole to add to the six available at the scheme since the other one was not working.
“We are going to drill another borehole for farmers, we promise to put this on our borehole projects list, to help with the supply of water on this project,” said the ZINWA representative.
Farmers were further urged to consider using solar systems as an alternative when there is no electricity as the water table is now very low.
Four villages are in the Rufaro Irrigation scheme and each has 50 hectares of wheat and the whole irrigation is expected to produce 45 metric tonnes of wheat after harvesting.
Inputs for the winter wheat crop were received through the presidential input scheme and government has sent experts from different departments including ZESA, Agritex, ZINWA, AFC Bank, Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to monitor the projects.
