By Beverly Bizeki
Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka recently said Masvingo Province is home to 54 percent of the country’s water resources but is one of the most drought stricken in provinces in the country.
Masuka was speaking at a Pfumvudza Field Day in Zaka recently in an interview with journalists at the event where he said water in the province was under utilised as the province was getting food from other provinces in the country.
“Masvingo is in a unique position in terms of water and in terms of future of the country in terms of providing food security. Of the 8 000 billion cubic metres of water in our dams Masvingo has 54 percent of that water.
“Ideally Masvingo should be providing 54 percent of the country’s food requirement and yet Masvingo is a drought stricken province in need of food from other provinces. In this current season the president is feeding 6.54 million rural people out of the 9.2 million each one receiving 7.5kgs per person per month,” Masuka said.
Masuka said the province was getting its wheat from Mashonaland West, where government was moving it by rail or by trucks in order to feed Masvingo, despite having water bodies like Tugwi-Mukosi that, if fully utilized could lead to the province exporting food to other provinces.
He however said there was hope that pfumvudza, if done correctly could revive the agriculture sector that has been disturbed by erratic rains as climate change effects continue to hit.
“From what we have witnessed here it is clear that if every household adopts this sustainable intensive conservation farming method called pfumvudza/intwasa the country will be well on its way to assuring each household of food security. This farmer last year had a yield of one tonne per hectare and this year certainly more than that.
“Pfumvudza has shown us that the focus on the precision agriculture and following all the tenets of agriculture ensuring holing is done on time, organic matter is put in there, mulch is put and everything is followed to the book we can see the results of the programme,” said Masuka.
He commended the province for exceeding its pfumvudza target by 11 percent and said the crop recovery following rain shortages during the beginning of the farming season.
Masuka added that government was in the process of replacing motorbikes for extension workers and providing tablets for them to be better business advisors as they assist farmers in their ventures.
Masvingo province is home to two of the largest water bodies in the country, Lake Mutirikwi and Tugwi-Mukosi, with Mutirikwi already spilling.
Government has been talking about establishing irrigation schemes to utilise the water in Tugwi Mukosi but not much has been done, with Chivi District where the dam is situated not benefitting much from the dam as the water irrigates sugarcane estates in the Lowveld.
