Harare, (New Ziana) –Zimbabwe has excess water that could see more land being committed to winter wheat as the country moves away from rainfed agriculture in the wake of climate change, a senior government official has said.
The Zimbabwe government has adopted a deliberate policy to promote the consumption of wheat and other cereal grains in place of the staple maize, whose production is being affected by recurrent droughts.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary, Professor Obert Jiri a recent Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) audit of available water showed that 141 000 hectares could be opened for winter cropping, when the national target is 123 000 hectares.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a ZINWA stakeholder and farmers interactive session in Harare this week, and said the country has enough irrigation water for the next 21 months.
During any given season, ZINWA plans with a 21-month cover of raw water supply for irrigation, excluding for human and animal consumption.
“ZINWA has done an audit that has unlocked 2 000 ha of ghost acres in Banket, Mashonaland West, Marondera, Mashonaland East, 200 ha at Safari Block, and more than 1 000 ha in the Sherwood Block, the Midlands province, to increase the winter wheat program,” said Jiri.
During the audit, ZINWA dispatched teams to every farm and dam to register every water body and farmers drawing water from the reservoirs, with emphasis on Banket, Marondera, the Safari Block and other wheat clusters.
The exercise is expected to continue until the particulars of all farmers who want to irrigate and grow wheat are captured. Jiri said there are 331 irrigation schemes that are able to grow winter wheat that have been placed on the radar in terms of power and water. Most of these schemes are around dams, and water is available.
“We have worked with ZESA to ensure that wherever there is production of winter wheat, as long as the meter number is registered with ZESA in the wheat cluster, that meter number will be ring-fenced. Every irrigation scheme should have enough water and power for powering the winter wheat programming,” he said.
Speaking at the same occasion, ZINWA chief executive officer Taurayi Maurukira said the audit encountered problems with farmers who were unwilling to cooperate for fear of getting penalized.
“The outcome so far is still low because of the farmers’ fear and we have done about 30 percent currently, in respect of registration for water, but we believe that the corresponding hectarage could be highbecause we do have others that might not have been registered as yet,” he said.
Maurukira said ZINWA is still on the ground and the blitz is expected to be completed this Friday.
New Ziana
