Farmers offered advice
Farmers were urged to do value addition to penetrate the market.
Farmers were urged to add value to their yields, as it will be easier to penetrate the market with ready-made products.
Speaking during the recently held field day, the guest of honor encouraged farmers to take farming seriously and commercialize the last product to be ready for end users, as it is easy to penetrate the market with a ready-to-use product.
Farmers were encouraged to consider the value addition of their crops and animals, as it helps them realize more earnings and industrialize their products.
The Provincial Chief Livestock Officer for West Province called upon farmers to consider value addition on their crops and livestock, learn to make stock feeds for their livestock with maize, soy, and sunflower, and package the end-products accordingly so as to penetrate deep into the market with a brand.
Farmers should start to think outside the box and be innovative enough to come up with value-added solutions such as packaging their product, looking for ready markets, exporting, or processing their yields, as it will be easy to penetrate the market.
“As farmers, learn to do more with the plants and animals that you have; for example, you can make your own stockfeed using what you have to avoid pumping out money when you can do it yourself.
“If one doesn’t know how to, we urge you to make use of the extension officers from the start till harvest time for assistance and guidance. We live in a world of technological advancement, and research is the backbone of the industry. Do some research and come up with solutions,” he said.
Nyamadzawo added that farmers are being encouraged to attend short courses being offered at Banket Sports Club by the Ministry and other colleges as knowledge is power and they can harness and sharpen their skills to be competent enough as the country is an agro-based economy.
“The government is expecting us to be self-sufficient in the growing of wheat, and there are loans offered to small-scale farmers from an acre up to three hectares, as long as one has pumps to irrigate the wheat, and they should register with their extension officers for inputs,” explained Nyamadzawo.
He encouraged farmers not to burn their fields as the grass and maize stalks help in animal feeding this coming season, and he also said that the grass is very important on the Pfumvudza aspect as it is used for mulching purposes.
During the field day, the Pfumvudza plots showed how mulching assisted in the growth of the maize and sunflower when the rains were said to have stopped before the end of the rainy season.
The District Officer encouraged farmers to establish gardens and orchards at their homesteads for food and nutrition purposes, and they can also resell them for substantial citrus farming.
Small-holder farmers should practice Pfumvudza farming as rainfall is not enough these days due to climate change.
“Farmers must realize good yields from a small piece of Pfumvudza plot, like one hectare of maize can give 16 tons if all is done well; also, farmers must choose a good-quality seed variety,” advised
