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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter

GOVERNMENT has started employing managers for 450 irrigation schemes across the country under an integrated business model to ensure that they are fully productive in order to improve food and nutrition security.

Government has identified Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme in Lupane, Matabeleland North, as a pilot project for an integrated business model to be replicated by 450 irrigation schemes across the country as the Second Republic accelerates rural development and industrialisation in line with Vision 2030.

The 180 hectare Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme is a community project, which Government, through the Agricultural Rural Development Authority (Arda), is reviving.

In an interview (Arda) Matabeleland regional manager, Mr Ndodana Ncube said by year end they targeted to have deployed managers in all 81 irrigation schemes in Matabeleland North and South Provinces. He said 21 managers will be deployed beginning of next month while interviews for the remaining managers were ongoing.

“The thrust is for all irrigations to be run as business units. We are in the process of employing managers for irrigations and they will be paid by Arda. The duty of each manager will be to ensure that crops are planted up to standard in their respective irrigations, soil samples will be collected to ensure that planting is done according to soil analysis recommendations. These are qualified agronomists and their role is to ensure that irrigations are productive and with their help farmers can engage in business agriculture. A manager has already been deployed at Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme.

“We also want farmers to follow a systematic way of planting where they will allocate a particular number of blocks to a particular type of crop. They must also know which type of crops to plant. We are trying to avoid a situation whereby farmers are given loans, land, inputs and other resources but they fail to be productive as they don’t have the expertise. These irrigations have all along being running with the help of Agritex and scheme committees but we are now bringing in someone with a relevant skill to run this as a commercial farm,” he said.

Mr Ncube said by mid-September they were targeting to have deployed 40 managers in Matabeleland Region. He said academic qualifications included a Diploma in Agronomy or a BSC in Agronomy or a BSC in Crop Science. He said applicants should also have relevant experience.

Mr Ncube said at a commercial scale the farmers will be expected sit down with the manager and to come up with a work plan. He said they assess whether they have the relevant manpower and if they can be available at the irrigation at any time. Mr Ncube said in some cases the farmers might need to employ irrigators.

“We want farmers to engage in farming as a business and in the process they should employ and create employment. If we look as some of the farmers who are operating in irrigations they are too old therefore they need able bodied men who can do the work to ensure maximum production. If this is the case then they will have to employ irrigators who are able bodied men that will do most of the manual work for them. In the case of small irrigations we might have to combine them as the managers will be equipped with motor bikes so they can easily move around and liaise with various stakeholders.

“We are conducting engagement meetings with farmers where we sit down with them in order to convince them to turn their operations into a business entity. Some will have reservations and we continue to engage them up until they buy into the idea. At the moment we have successfully held these engagement meetings with farmers from 40 irrigations and they are ready to receive and work with managers. We have about 81 irrigations in Matabeleland North and South and we are moving gradually and by November or December we plan to have deployed managers to all these irrigations,” he said.

During a recent visit to Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Anxious Masuka said the projects that are been undertaken by Government through various agricultural schemes are meant to transform subsistence agriculture at household level into commercial agriculture. He said irrigation schemes must ensure food security and that farming is a business so that household incomes and livelihoods improve.

-@DubeMatutu