MARONDERA- As the country continues to receive good rainfall this season, farmers who
were registered under the Climate-Proofed Presidential Inputs Scheme Programme, widely
known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa, must collect their inputs at the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)
depots dotted throughout the country.
They were also urged to work closely with agriculture experts in their areas so that they plant
their crops under proper guidance.
In an interview with this publication, Agricultural Advisory and Rural Development Services
(AARDS) provincial acting director Leonard Munamati revealed that nothing has changed with
regard to the course of the scheme, which will be guided by the agro-ecological zones that are in
the province.
Nearly 500 000 households have been targeted to benefit from the programme targeting small-
scale farmers across all rural provinces in the country to boost household food security and
income to be gained from surplus crop sales.
Mashonaland East set a target to put maize under 220 hectares, sorghum under 25 000ha, pearl
millet under 13 000ha, finger millet under 5 000ha, groundnuts under 70 000ha, African peas
under 14 000ha, roundnuts, sugar beans and soya beans under 10 000ha respectively.
Beneficiaries of the programme in regions deemed suitable for maize will get inputs that include
maize seed, lime, basal and top dressing fertilizer while those in regions classified for cereals
will get seed for the specific crop, post-planting herbicides, chemicals for fall armyworm control
and 200mls bottles for termite control.
The inputs are being collected at Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots in the province. 3 602
tonnes of basal dressing fertilizer, 565 tonnes of top-dressing fertilizer, 126 tonnes of maize seed
and 29 650 tonnes of traditional grains seed are available at the depots.
“We expect our farmers in communal, A1 and old resettlement areas to be winding their land
preparations at their Pfumvudza plots as soon, it will be time for them to start collecting inputs at
various GMB depots in their districts. They must collect adequate mulch, apply lime and
manure into holes of the prepared plots.
“A2 and large-scale commercial farmers must finish off land preparation; that is ploughing,
liming and discing. They must make sure that they have reliable sources of inputs like seed,
fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides,” Munamati said.
“As we always say under the Pfumvudza programme, what a farmer grows will be determined
by their agro-ecological zone and what Government is going to support will be determined by

the agro-ecological zone. In this province, there are regions that receive normal to above normal
as well as low rainfall and it means that the characteristics or climate patterns guide what crops
best suit a certain area,” he added.