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#AMHVoices:Another poor farming season looms

AMH Voices
Driving in the scorching sun along the well-paved and long, winding Harare-Bindura Road, I witnessed a disturbing scenario around the area which used to be lush green with healthy crops during this time of the season.

Driving in the scorching sun along the well-paved and long, winding Harare-Bindura Road, I witnessed a disturbing scenario around the area which used to be lush green with healthy crops during this time of the season.

By Leonard Koni,Our Reader

Farming preps in Mutawata
Farming preps in Mutawata

My first impression when I looked around the area was shock as I expected to see more land preparation in progress for this coming season.

It looks like we are heading for another poor agricultural season as we approach the end of the year.

Zimbabwe has vast tracts of land and has the capacity to grow many cash crops in order to improve its economy which is on a free-fall, but we are not producing much for our own people because we are not fully utilising the land.

Our economy is agro-based, hence the government must be seen funding more of these new farmers so that they can be equipped with modern farming skills in order to maximise production and profits.

More agricultural inputs are needed if we are to become another force to reckon with.

I have also noticed that veld fires are on the increase around the area and are a cause for concern. Veld fires are destroying natural pastures and not much is being done to educate the people to stop starting fires.

We continue importing grain and poultry from other countries yet we have the resources to take care of all these things.

What happened to the agricultural mechanisation programme? I think we need to take another angle to save our agriculture. This lackadaisical approach will not take us anywhere.

Corruption is another deterring factor. Only a few have benefited from such a programme. It is so pathetic that we now have more agricultural graduates, but who are not practicing what they have been taught from colleges such as Chibero, Mlezu and Kushinga, just to mention a few.

Our Agriculture ministry is underperforming. It needs to be overhauled and restructured to meet the demands of the people. They must also involve the private sector to boost their performance. Agriculture is the mainstay of our economy. Without farmers there is no future.