MUTARE - A local NGO, Sertic, is set to invest US$1 million in a community agricultural project in the Manicaland and Masvingo provinces.
Head of corporate affairs, Dave Bourns, told The Zimbabwean that the communities in the provinces would harvest their first crops next season. The project has 150 growers with 100 ha under maize, 100 under cowpeas and 50 ha sorghum seed.
The project, he said, would cater for over 1000 farmers when it reaches full production yielding 100 tonnes of maize, 50 tonnes of cowpeas seed and 50 tonnes of sorghum seed. The programme hinges on promoting good farming practices taking the conservation of environment, he said.
The producers would set up marketing links with private companies, said Bourns. We will help farmers to get loans from banks and to get inputs on time as well as depots where they will store their harvest, he said.
Sertic would be sponsoring agricultural extension workers for the project. We plan to have a gardening project under irrigation, he said. We will facilitate training for livestock production through the rehabilitation of dip tanks, dams and boreholes. Expansion plans will include re-opening sale- pens and linking farmers with cattle buyers, said Bourns.
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