The Sunday Mail
Tendai Chara
A field day which was held at a prominent Chiredzi sugarcane farmer, Mr Faster Gono’s plot, ended up being a tale of farmers who both started out in similar circumstances but whose lives went on to take different trajectories.
Whilst kudos were being showered on the award-winning farmer, criticism was directed towards some of his neighbours who are not taking good care of their crop.
This is despite the fact that when the farmers were given the land, the previous owners left a thriving crop.
Among the many people who openly voiced their concerns over farmers that are not putting their land to good use was the Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water Climate and Rural Resettlement, Honourable Vangelis Peter Haritatos.
The Deputy Minister was the guest of honour and took the opportunity to commission a dam constructed by Mr Gono.
“First and foremost, I would want to applaud sugarcane farmers for producing enough sugar for the local and export markets. I am, however, dismayed by the high levels of neglect by some sugarcane farmers,” the Deputy Minister said.
Speaking as if he was making reference to overgrown plots which are near Mr Gono’s farm, the Deputy Minister said the level of neglect that he witnessed was not acceptable.
“I am failing to understand how a farmer can completely abandon his crop like that. I’m sure the owners of the plots at one time harvested cane but maybe failed to plough the profits back into the land,” added the Deputy Minister.
Deputy Minister Haritatos said Mr Gono has proven that one can live a modest life off a small sugarcane plot.
“One does not need large tracts of land to be successful. From the 26 hectares, the host farmer managed to buy four tractors, has mechanised his farm, constructed a dam and built a nice house in a low-density area,” added Mr Haritatos.
He added: “From what I gathered here, the host farmer is financially disciplined, has excellent water-management capabilities and has invested the profits in the construction of the dam. The dam is contributing to the improvement in yields.”
Gono, a multiple sugarcane “Farmer of the Year Award” winner, constructed a dam with a capacity of holding 56 mega litres of water.
He is among sugarcane farmers who are registering high yields that are going up to as much as 140 tonnes per hectare.
The average yield for out-growers is between 80 and 90 tonnes per hectare.
Mr Gono attributed the high yields to a number of factors.
“I mostly grow ZN10, a variety which is known for high yields. Most farmers are still stuck with the Z14 variety which is not as high-yielding as the ZN10. Crops must also be well-looked after with the proper fertiliser applications,” added Mr Gono.
Dr Audrey Mabveni, the director of the Zimbabwe Sugar Association Experiment Station (ZSAES), gave an overview of sugarcane production in the south-east Lowveld.
According to Dr Mabveni, the total area under sugar cane production in the Lowveld is about 45 000 hectares.
In addition to this, Green Fuel has 9 000 hectares under sugarcane in the Save Conservancy area, with the number of small-scale sugarcane out-growers in the Lowveld ranging between 870 and 890.
Farm sizes range between 10 hectares in the Chipiwa area and 30 in the Triangle mill group, with the average farm size being 18,2 hectares.
Research by ZSAES shows that among the problems that are faced by sugarcane farmers is the unavailability and inefficient use of water and the unavailability of inputs.
Most farmers, according to Dr Mabveni, do not have adequate knowledge on how to profitably grow sugarcane.
Dr Mabveni said efforts that will see farmers increasing yields are being made.
“We are encouraging our farmers to engage themselves in soil sampling so that they can know the needs of the particular soil that they will be working on. Gone are the days in which farmers would plant without proper soil sampling,” Dr Mabveni said.
Apart from working on new cane varieties that will increase yields, ZSAES is also offering free training to farmers on how they can effectively grow sugarcane.
The field day served as a perfect example of how absent farmers, who are often referred to as “cell phone” farmers, often fare when compared to those that invest considerable time and attention to their pieces of land.
Sugarcane and citrus farms have been lying idle in the Lowveld where resettled farmers are failing to put them to use.
By constructing the dam at a cost of $68 000, Gono is among those farmers that are fighting climate change using water harvesting techniques.
In the past, water shortages have resulted in the farmer failing to realise the yields that he desired.
Apart from his successes in farming, the retired army engineer speaks fiercely against corruption.
“We have people who are holding on to multiple plots whilst others are in dire need of land. Those that are not using land must be stripped of the precious asset,” Gono said.
