Local farmers should strive to incorporate emerging technologies into their farming activities to boost agricultural production, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday.
Agriculture is vital to the Zimbabwean economy, earning the country
millions in export revenue every year while the majority of rural people
depend on it for their livelihood.
As such, the government has placed emphasis on strengthening the
agriculture sector through programs such as Command Agriculture, which
also incorporates livestock production in areas which do not receive
adequate rainfall for cropping.
Also, as part of efforts to strengthen the sector, government is
placing emphasis on farm mechanisation to enhance agricultural
production and improve food security.
Improved agricultural production would in-turn help agro-based
industries to boost capacity. Speaking after touring Radzim Agri-Power, an agriculture equipment supplier, President Mnangagwa said farmers should continuously seek ways to improve land productivity.
“And that (improving productivity) can only be done by embracing
science and technology, this is the way to go,” he said.
“We must not just do what our parents used to do, time is moving on you
must be on the boat of progress.”
President Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe should be producing sufficient food
for local consumption, and had to devise ways to overcome challenges
posed by climate change such as adequate utilisation of irrigation
facilities.
“I have a vision that this country should reach a stage where
everything we eat can actually be produced in this country,” he said.
“With the modernisation of our agriculture we should be able to feed
ourselves and it is from agriculture that industry will grow.”
As a farmer, President Mnangagwa said he was constantly on the look-out
for ways to improve productivity at his farm.
The President owns a highly productive farm, the Pricabe Farm in
Sherwood, Kwekwe in the Midlands Province where he cultivates crops such
as maize and wheat.
President Mnangagwa is also into market gardening and aquaculture.
“As a farmer I want to embrace agricultural technology for the
betterment of production,” he said.
“I continuously want to interrogate the latest technology in the
agricultural sector which can help both modernise and mechanise our
agriculture.” – New Ziana
