Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya–Beitbridge Bureau
Beitbridge District is traditionally a livestock farming and ranching area since it is one of the drier districts in the country, but some new horticulture farmers have emerged in the district breaking barriers through the use of smart agriculture methods with limited irrigation and adopting market-led production.
The area has an estimated 200 000 cattle, 150 000 goats, 90 000 sheep and 40 000 donkeys.
Crop production, especially the horticulture sector remained low because of low rainfall.
According to agriculture experts, Beitbridge requires an average of 400mm of rain for a successful farming season but in the last decade, most areas in the district have been receiving 80mm.
In a quest to close the shortage of horticulture products some farmers in Beitbridge have turned to water harvesting and the use of drip irrigation.
This has seen farms like the Royal Cooper Estate, some 60km along the Beitbridge to Bulawayo Road turning their A2 farm into a greenbelt and being able to produce for the district and the regional market.
In an interview during a recent tour of the project by Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Jongwe Masuka as part of the ongoing first round of the crop, livestock and fisheries assessment, farm operations manager Mr Samuel Karonga said they started horticulture in 2016 and since then their market share has been growing across the country.
“We have adopted a market-led production, whereby we produce mostly crops and products as per market demand,” said Mr Karonga.
“This has been made possible through the use of the drip irrigation model since a micro-irrigation system that saves water and nutrients. The model allows water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface,” he said.
Mr Karonga said at the moment the farm is producing horticulture products which have a ready market countrywide but that this year, they are targeting exporting their produce.
He said they were producing cabbages, butternuts, tomatoes, green peppers, watermelons, and green chilli, among other vegetables.
They have put 23 hectares under butternuts with 80 per cent of the harvest earmarked for the export market while the remaining 20 per cent has already been paid for by local food chain shops within Harare and Beitbridge.
“The remainder of the products from the butternuts field, we are planning to put them on the export market. So we have put 23ha on butternuts, 7 ha maize, 4 ha watermelons, and 1 ha we have green pepper,” said Mr Karonga.
“We have been using the intercropping model to maximise land use at the same time while ensuring we have consistent revenue coming in throughout the year.
Livestock is not neglected. In addition to crops, we have 230 high-quality mixed beef breeds and 70 high-market value goats all with a ready market.”
He said they can produce crops throughout the year with the support of drip irrigation and water harvesting.
Under the drip type of irrigation water is placed directly into the root zone of the plant to minimise evaporation.
According to Mr Karonga, this is better than using canals, sprinklers, or flood irrigation to water crops and currently, they are drawing irrigation water from the Mazunga River, and the several boreholes at the farm, which are powered by diesel or electricity.
The farm also has a dam holding a maximum of 5 755 300 litres of water.
“We started off supplying the Beitbridge market, but now we have penetrated markets in Harare, Chegutu, Kadoma, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Mbare, Masvingo, Chiredzi and Gweru,” said Mr Karonga.
He said the horticulture farm had created jobs with 65 permanent workers and an additional 100 casual workers mainly women and the youths they engage during the harvest period mostly from villages surrounding Ward 14.
“As you can see, we have very fertile soils and we only need adequate irrigation water to increase production,” he said.
The use of drip irrigation, Mr Karonga said, had also helped them control weeds since they started the project.
He said it was important for farmers in the district to embrace the market-led production supported by drip irrigation and maximise production with less labour.
