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Whinsley Masara Business Reporter
AT a time when the country is pondering at the El Nino effect amid fears over food shortages, Pollards Irrigation Scheme has become an oasis of hope for villagers in Bubi District, Matabeleland North province. Business Chronicle visited the irrigation scheme near Inyathi Business Centre where members narrated their success with irrigation farming.

The scheme has a membership of 108 farmers and covers 45 hectares of land of which 40 hectares is arable. An excited member of the irrigation scheme, Mthoniselwa Khabo, said being part of the project had improved his life.

“We contributed to this first round of production but we’ve since received input starter packs from the government such as seed and fertiliser for top dressing as well as herbicides for the coming round, which we want to start as soon as possible,” he said.

The irrigation scheme has been under construction since 2005 at a budget of $2 million. “It had taken us a while but we’re glad the project has finally sprung up. We’ve planned to plant sugar beans to replace maize for crop rotation purposes. We also have another section with a maize crop on another 15 hectares,” added Khabo.

Under the scheme, each member is allocated 7×148 metre-rows put under maize crop. Some farmers were selling fresh maize at $3 per dozen and looked forward to harvesting a lot more.

Khabo said irrigation schemes were now a way to go if communities are to survive and lamented the drought situation, which has left many communities exposed to food insecurity.

“We’re grateful to have the scheme in our area and also we’ve a hardworking team considering this is our first crop,” he added. Siyabonga Mhlanga, an Agritex officer who works with the community said the project has a transformative effect on community livelihoods.

“Farmers have been working tirelessly with so much dedication from the construction of the dam and canals up to harvesting of their first crop, which did tremendously well. Despite the economic hardships, farmers contributed to financing the project,” she said.

“Working closely with the Department of Irrigation, farmers were trained last December on how to apply requisite skills. They were trained on basic operations and governance of the scheme.

“We also trained them on crop production, HIV/Aids in agriculture, water management as well as issues to do with mechanisation.” “In our first attempt, we planted maize on 11 hectares and the crop did very well. We’re now selling fresh maize to the local market and having other business people coming from as far as Bulawayo to buy. Very soon we’ll be harvesting,” she said.

In recognition of the role of irrigation farming as a key drought mitigation measure, the government has been mobilising funding through partnerships with the private sector and the donor community to revamp irrigation schemes country wide.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union Matabeleland North provincial chairman, Winston Babbage, applauded the approach insisting that irrigation was the most sustainable and reliable way of cropping in the wake of climate change. He appealed to the banking sector to extend more resources to irrigation farming.