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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter

THE Government is set to embark on a national crop and livestock assessment programme as part of its strategy to explore ways of saving livestock and crops through evaluating their condition, water supply and prevalence of diseases.

This comes after erratic rains were recorded in various parts of the country between October last year and this month, especially in the southern provinces.  The assessment also comes after the 2018/19 drought that resulted in the death of livestock and wildlife due to a lack of pastures and water and destruction of crops due to moisture stress.

The southern region has over the past 12 months or so lost more than 30 000 head of cattle due to the effects of the drought with Matabeleland South being the worst affected with 17 000 deaths.

In an interview yesterday, the Deputy Minister for Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Vangelis Peter Haritatos said the Government is worried about the effects of climate change.  This has resulted in erratic rainfall and cattle succumbing to drought and poor yields in the fields. 

“Any time from now we will start the first round of national crop and livestock assessment. The underlying reason is that most field crops such as maize, soya beans, cotton, groundnuts and small grains would have been planted and the planting window closed for these crops. The purpose of this exercise is to enable the Government to establish which areas planted these different crops,” he said. 

“Primarily, we want to establish the stages and condition of crops, assess disease prevalence and the overall prospects for the season including outcomes and benefits.”

Cde Haritatos said the programme seeks to provide early warning to decision makers on the possible outcome of season and identifying areas of intervention as they relate to saving the season’s crop and livestock and make recommendations.

“We want to identify areas that need to be addressed in future farming seasons and also address gaps in terms of crop and livestock production, and possibly come up with interventions for the livestock sector. Data collected will help us in our second round of crop and livestock assessment,” he said.

Cde Haritatos said the second round of crop and livestock assessment, which will be done between March and April, will effectively come up with yield and production estimates when crops would have matured at the end of the farming season.

He said dehydration due to water shortage as water sources continue to dry up earlier in most parts of the country because of drought, contributed immensely to the increase in the number of cattle deaths. 

“Our Ministry is looking into urgently drilling boreholes at strategic places in order to solve the water problem caused by the current drought. It is important to note also that this programme will have a double benefit as it will also stop cattle from straying into neighbouring countries such as Botswana in search of water,” he said.

Cde Haritatos said the Department of Veterinary Services has already vaccinated cattle in drought stricken and low-risk foot and mouth disease (FMD) areas so that they can move to other areas for relief grazing. 

“We would also like to highlight that livestock can be a lucrative business if managed correctly. In times of drought we encourage our farmers, through our extension officers, to destock slightly in order to be able to generate funds to buy stock feed so that the remaining livestock remain healthy and productive. 

“Furthermore, we want to discourage people from burning grass, particularly in provinces that have had better rains, but should cut the grass and make hay bales,” he said.

The Deputy Minister urged farmers to grow fodder in provinces that receive better rainfall. “Fodder is of great benefit to the animal through nutrients and acts like fresh pastures. It is easier to digest and helps with weight gain as well as increasing life expectancy, especially with dairy cows, it increases yield of milk. As a Ministry we are also looking into assembling hay baling units that include tractors, slashers, rakes, and hay balers,” he said.

Cde Haritatos urged farmers to adhere to good agronomic practices such as pest and weed control, as well as adopting climate smart agriculture.

Matabeleland South, widely regarded as Zimbabwe’s driest province, has been the worst affected, with about 17 000 cattle having died since last year. 

Beitbridge has been the hardest hit district in the province, with almost 4 000 cattle reported to have died. Cattle farmers in the district, among them Vice President Kembo Mohadi, said the numbers of animals succumbing continued to increase, forcing some to sell their livestock for a song.

VP Mohadi last month lost 271 head of cattle at his farm.

Masvingo and the Midlands provinces have also been affected with the problem being compounded by a shortage of cattle dipping chemicals, a situation that has resulted in livestock also succumbing to diseases. — @mashnets