By Decide Nhendo
The Chief Director, Department of Agriculture and Rural Advisory Services (ARDAS) (formerly AGRITEX) Leonard Munamati has tipped farmers to jealously guard their produce as the country is faced with an El Nino induced drought to avoid any more losses.
Munamati said a number of farmers did not produce as expected because of drought, which is why it was important to manage and protect every cob they harvested this farming season.
“It is a drought year, so we want to make sure that farmers do not lose the small stocks they have and to those who managed to get quantity harvests we urge them to market wisely and sell to genuine buyers so that they don’t lose their hard earned crops.
“You must not sell your crops to dealers (Makorokoza) but keep the grain and send it to reputable markets of your choice including main markets like Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
“Farmers must be aware of thieves in their communities who are on the loose around the country due to poor harvest and food inadequacy caused by drought and the harsh economy so it is clear farmers need to overprotect their produce.
“Once crop is harvested it must be protected by chemicals for example let us take grain, a farmer can buy Agrochemicals which are used to protect it from insects.
He went on to say crop residues was supposed to be dried and kept safe for later use as stock feed and also make sure that the grain is completely dry before storage.
“Crop residues can be dried and kept for future use as supplementary feed for livestock in the coming following months as it is going to be dry, livestock will soon have no herbage.
Farmers should also make sure that their grain is completely dry before storage and guard against possible moisture which can lead to the grain developing molds,” said Munamati.
Chief livestock officer in the Department of Livestock Production and Development Wisdom Gunzvenzwe recently told farmers that the drought was causing water shortages for livestock and people, so farmers needed to identify relief grazing sites.
He also urged farmers to sell unproductive animals to buy feed for the remaining animals and construct boreholes to water the livestock.
