This was one of the worst disasters I have encountered in my 40 years of urban farming. Red Cross allocated us pieces of farm land at a nearby farm as part of its support to the underprivileged. They also gave us different types of seeds and fertilizer. After receiving the sweet potato seed recently, we rushed to plant the crop as we feared to be left behind by the farming season. A scorching sun came hard on the heels of initial rains destroying the planted crop. We will have to start all over again, said Agatha Jena (70).
26.11.2010
11:50
Sun scorches sweet potatoes
MARONDERA Some 2 000 poor residents of Marondera who received sweet potato seed donations from the Red Cross last month, were counting their losses as the crop wilted under the present scorching sun. Unsuspecting beneficiaries were fooled by temporary early rains October, into planting the seed.