Pioneer throws weight behind Zim-Asset Farmers follow proceedings at a Pioneer Seeds prize giving ceremony in Bulawayo on Tuesday
Farmers follow proceedings at a Pioneer Seeds prize giving ceremony in Bulawayo on Tuesday

Farmers follow proceedings at a Pioneer Seeds prize giving ceremony in Bulawayo on Tuesday

Nqobile Tshili Business Reporter
PIONEER Seeds says it is supporting government’s five-year economic blueprint Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) to ensure food security by providing inputs to farmers.
Speaking during a provincial prize giving day for farmers in Bulawayo on Tuesday, company representative Tawanda Mangisi said farmers should aid the government in fulfilling Zim-Asset’s endeavour of food sustainability.

Farmers from Matabeleland North Province were urged to utilise their fields if the country was to regain its status as the breadbasket of Africa.

Zim-Asset is anchored on four clusters – Security and Nutrition; Social Services and Poverty Eradication; Infrastructure and Utilities; and Value Addition and Beneficiation – that would enable the country achieve economic growth and reposition it as one of the strongest economies on the continent.

The policy document notes that the agricultural sector, being the backbone of the economy underpinning economic growth, food security and poverty eradication, continues to experience severe systemic challenges within its entire value chain ranging from lack of agricultural financing to lack of affordable inputs.

This has also been exacerbated by prolonged periods of drought caused by climatic changes.

Mangisi said Pioneer had already taken an initiative by aiding farmers through prize giving which stimulates competition among them.

“This country should never go hungry and as a company we have already put money and are investing in communities by channelling $200,000 into this competition every year. Our goal is to have food security at household, ward, district, provincial and ultimately at national level,” he said.

Mangisi said in the coming years, Pioneer would decentralise the awards to the districts in a bid to take it closer to the farmers.

Matabeleland North provincial agricultural extension officer Dumisani Nyoni urged the farmers to keep records of their farming activities to enable them to plan for the future.

“Learn to keep records and let’s organise ourselves. You should start making introspections and retrospections with your Agritex officers to find out how you performed the previous year and plan ahead,” said Nyoni.

He said farmers were experiencing problems with their communication issues saying information was a critical tool in farming.

Pioneer sales manager for Western region Simba Gotosa said his company was complementing the government’s indigenisation programme by providing inputs to farmers.

“Pioneer is playing its role in Zim-Asset. We have already given them inputs. The emphasis is on maximum production in a unit area,” said Gotosa.

Farmers from the seven districts of Matabeland North who came first and second walked away with farming inputs comprising seed and fertilisers.

The farmers expressed gratitude for the inputs that were offered saying they were inspired to do better than the previous year.

 

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