CHIZANGA - With vision and creativity, natural resources such as stream and well waters can be utilized to boost irrigation farming in rural areas and other farm set ups. The brothers are victims of political terror, who also benefited from the IOM-funded farming activity resuscitating programme. They concentrated their farming activity on tomato and vegetable production. This is their story:
Given erratic and unreliable rainfall in the area, we decided to utilize a nearby stream and sink water wells for a pilot irrigation scheme. The project took off well. We have put two hectares of tomato and vegetable crop under irrigation. We received seeds and fertilizer from IOM and decided to venture into large scale horticulture.
To draw water from a nearby stream, we bought 500 meters of irrigation pipes, two 5.5 horse power petrol and diesel water pumps. Two hundred meters of pipe was later stolen by political thugs in 2008. We sunk water wells to supplement water from the stream. The stream is 300 meters from the garden.
We put one and a half hectares of our farmland under irrigation. The irrigation scheme is used for tomato and vegetable farming. Tomatoes take three months to mature and harvest. Since we embarked on the project last year, we have been grossing an average $2 000 every three months from crop sales.
Our markets are in Marondera and Mbare market in Harare. Local communities buy the produce from the garden. Though we are doing relatively well, the project is not without challenges.
Sometimes we yield poor returns when the horticulture market is flooded with tomatoes and vegetable produce. This puts farmers in a difficult situation, as we need to buy inputs such as seed, fertilizer and pesticides for the next crop. Some unscrupulous dealers flooded the market with tomatoes imported from South Africa. This plunged tomato prices from $30 per 20kg crate, to an all time $2 low.
Inputs if not donor funded, sell at exorbitant prices. Tomato growing needs expensive pesticides. Rural farmers face problems accessing subsidized inputs such as fertilizer from GMB. We resort buying fertilizer from recently resettled farmers, at inflated prices. Distribution of inputs at GMB is politicized and done on partisan grounds.
If inputs could be sourced at affordable prices and transport charges maintained at low levels, life would be easier for farmers. Transporters charge $1 per 20kg of tomatoes. Considering some produce goes bad on the way to market due to the poor state of roads, the charges are beyond reach of most farmers.
We call upon IOM to consider swapping inputs for our farm produce. This will be convenient for both parties, as IOM needs food to feed the poor while farmers need cheap inputs to continue farming.
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Post published in: Economy