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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
THE country is projected to receive good rains in the 2021/22 rainy season which can trigger a bumper harvest if adequate preparations are put in place ahead of the coming farming season, experts have said.

Zimbabwe is basking in the glory of a bumper harvest following good rains coupled by the adoption of climate proof farming methods and timely distribution of inputs last season.

In the 2020/21 farming season, Government introduced the Intwasa/Pfumvudza tillage programme where approximately 1,8 million farmers were supported with farming inputs.

The country is expecting 2,8 million tonnes of maize to be delivered at the Grain Market Board.

Government this year suspended importation of maize, saving the country US$300 million.

In an interview yesterday, Meteorological Services Department (MSD) head of forecasting Mr James Ngoma said farmers should start preparing their land ahead of the rainy season projected to be normal to above normal.

“The coming season is expected to be normal to above normal in terms of rainfall. As we know, the amounts of rainfall vary from region to region,” said Mr Ngoma.

“So, basing on these averages then we are saying each area should receive a normal rain with a chance of getting above normal rain for the whole period of October, November and December. And also considering January, February and March period we project to have normal to above normal for much of the country. In layman terms, we are expecting a good season in terms of rainfall amounts.”

He said the country should not rule out floods when the rains start.

Mr Ngoma said farmers must start preparing for the farming season.

“Farmers should start preparing for the rainy season knowing that we have a good season and also cater for chances of dry spells in between the seasons. They should also brace for extremes where there would be flash flooding in some instances and also downpour in some areas. They should also take into account that during the beginning of the season the rains are erratic and interspaced,” said Mr Ngoma.

He said the country should take advantage of the rains to maximise crop production and cover for lean seasons.

Agronomist and Agricultural Rural Development Authority (Arda) chief executive officer Mr Tinotenda Mhiko said the season projections bring optimism within the sector.

“For us in the agriculture and agro-industry sector, the spectre of drought, together with its attendant vagaries, is banished. It means that we can forge ahead with a high degree of certainty with our objective to guarantee national food, feed, fibre and bio fuels security. This is a positive projected development for our country as it forms the basis of our crop yield and quality,” said Mr Mhiko.

“We expect the projected good rainfall forecast to enable farmers to establish early summer crops which is a key determinant for high yields and profitable cropping programmes.”

He said the normal to above normal rains will spur Arda to fully implement its mandate on providing food security.

“For Arda, we are gearing to establish summer cereals, fibre and oilseed crops across our estates and rural irrigation schemes, where we are running irrigation schemes as businesses under the management of Arda resident scheme business managers. The potential yield output will go a long way in reducing the country’s food import bill and stimulate economic growth in associated processing and downstream industries,” he said.

In the livestock sector, farmers have also expressed satisfaction with the projected coming rainy season.

Livestock Farmers Union chairman Mr Sifiso Sibanda, however, said as observed in the 2020/21 where the country received good rains, there was not enough water harvesting, a situation which has seen livestock having water shortages.

He said there is a need to invest more on establishing water bodies, including desilting existing ones.

“We still need to improve on the provision of water for animals. You will find that during the years of drought there was a lot of land degradation because some areas were overgrazed. You will find small dams silted. When farmers thought that there was a good supply of water it was not the case. The water situation is a disturbing factor as we speak and this is the case for areas such as Gwanda, Beitbridge, Tsholotsho and Nkayi,” he said.

Mr Sibanda said there are good pastures so far, but livestock farmers also need to harvest for future lean rainy seasons where animals have died due to loss of pastures.

Economist Dr Nqobizitha Dube said smooth planning will propel the farming season.

“With good planning as we did in the past season, we expect a good harvest. There is a need for a timely distribution of inputs. We also need to scale up conservation farming methods like Intwasa/Pfumvudza which were implemented in the past season hence we expect good harvest,” said Dr Dube.

He said a good harvest will sustain import substitution measures that contribute to growth of the local economy.-@nqotshili