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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
MATABELELAND South Province has surpassed its targeted maize yield under the Command Agriculture scheme by 29 percent, an official has said.

Chairperson of the provincial coordinating committee, Mr Masauso Mawocha, said so far the province has delivered 1 700 tonnes of maize to the Grain Marketing Board GMB).

He said the programme was a great success considering that the province was a semi-arid region, where crop husbandry largely depended on irrigation farming.

Mr Mawocha said at the beginning of the programme, they had set a target yield of 8 243.75 tonnes from 1 648.75 hectares.

“We have set our new target harvest to 10 634 tonnes,” he said.

“You will note that despite having challenges in terms of water logging and threats from the fall army worm, we have done well.

“So far we have harvested a total of 5 446 tonnes of maize from 844.35 hectares with an average yield of 6.45 tonnes per hectare.”

Mr Mawocha said the province was now working on harvesting the remaining 804.5 hectares. He commended the level of production by all farmers who registered under Command Agriculture in the province.

Mr Mawocha said some of the participating irrigation schemes include Arda Ingwizi in Mangwe district, Magwe Irrigation, Mankonkoni and Rustlers Gorge in Gwanda district and Silalatshani in Insiza district.

Also included are River Ranch irrigation, Jalukanga and Bili in Beitbridge district, Moza in Bulimia district, Arda Maphisa in Matobo district and Esigodini Agricultural College.

“The programme also incorporated communal farmers. So far the beneficiaries have collectively delivered 1 700 tonnes to the GMB using their own transport,” he said.

“However, we have engaged the national command centre with a view to assisting some of the farmers with the transportation of the maize to the depots (GMB).”

Acting Matabeleland South Provincial Minister of State Cde Abednico Ncube, who is also the Minister of Rural Development, Preservation of National Culture and Heritage, said the province was attending to all the logistical issues on the ground.

“We are happy with the progress on the ground and have tasked all our technocrats to attend to all the logistical issues as and when they arise.

“I would also want to encourage many people from the province to embrace Command Agriculture, which seeks to address food security at the same time economically empowering them,” he said.

Minister Ncube said it was also important for those who benefited from the land reform programme to scale up their efforts in making the country’s agrarian reform a memorable success.

He stressed the need to prioritise irrigation farming and livestock production in Matabeleland South, which he said was a source of economic development and livelihood for many people.

At least 2 000 farmers benefited from the initiative, which is aimed at ensuring food self-sufficiency and also reducing grain imports.

It is also understood that the scheme is targeting farmers near water bodies who can put a minimum of 200 hectares under maize per person.

These received loans in terms of seeds, fertilisers and other requisite equipment. It is estimated that the country needs 2.4 million metric tonnes of grain annually for both human and livestock consumption.