Farmers intensify land preparations
Friday, 21 October 2011 00:00
Obert Chifamba Senior Agriculture Reporter
FARMERS in most of the country's provinces took advantage of the rains that fell recently to intensify their land preparations ahead of the 2011/12 cropping season.
In a recent tour of the Manicaland province, The Herald established that farmers using conservation farming methods had already started digging planting stations in their fields. Some were using ox-drawn ploughs to till the land.
Farmers in the Honde Valley and Nyanga districts said they wanted to have all their fields ready before the start of the rainfall season to ease off pressure.
The rains are expected between end of October and mid November.
"We know the time is not yet ripe for us to start planting but we will be watching the developments in the weather closely so that we plant with the first actual rains.
"What we are seeing now could just be what we used to know as "bumharutsva" (rains that precede the start of the actual season) so this is the time to wrap up preparations," Spring Valley farmer Mr Edwin Chitere said.
Mr Chitere has a three-hectare farm between Nyanga and Rusape that he acquired in 2000 under the Government's land reform programme. He was equally busy ploughing his fields.
In Nyanga and Honde Valley the situation was the same as farmers were busy clearing and ploughing their fields.
The farmers' commonest complaint was on the prices of fertilisers and seed, which they say are rather unaffordable.
"We are getting fertilisers at prices ranging from US$30 to US$37 depending on the type of the fertiliser.
"Seed is selling for between US$22 and US$28 for a 10kg pocket depending on the variety while a 25kg pocket of seed is attracting prices ranging from US$48 to US$100 here," one Nyanga farmer who did not want to be named said.
In some retail outlets a 10kg of seed maize is selling for between US$19 and US$24 while the 25kg pocket is also priced at between US$47 and US$90 depending on the variety and performance ratings.
Also, in Mashonaland West province, most smallholder farmers have since started tilling land or are mid-way through while those in wetlands have started planting.
Some of the farmers are still ferrying animal and compost manure to their farms and even burning last season's crop residues in readiness for ploughing.
In Mhondoro, for instance, some farmers in wet areas have already planted and their crops are likely to emerge in the wake of the recent rains.
Similarly, farmers in the Mashonaland East province's Murewa, Mutoko and Mudzi districts have also intensified their preparations as they race to beat the first rains.
Their key focus at the moment is getting the land ready for planting though some are still complaining over delayed payments for grain they delivered to the Grain Marketing Board, which they said was checking their momentum.
In Masvingo province farmers started land preparations as far back as August after some rains that the farmers said signalled the end of winter.
Zaka and Chiredzi districts, for instance, that are traditionally dry, were also fortunate to receive the rains.
This gave the farmers the opportunity to start preparing their lands.
The recent rains that are reported to have covered most parts of the country will naturally add impetus to their preparations.
The Meteorological Department and Agritex have since indicated that the rains did not signal the start of the season so farmers needed not plant.
Manicaland Provincial Agricultural Extension Officer Mr Godfrey Mamhare also advised farmers in his province to shelve the planting of maize and other grains but plant tobacco as the rains could nourish the crop until the onset of the season.
The province, he said, was targeting to plant 9 000ha of tobacco and 300 000ha of maize this coming season and had already done 20 percent of their land preparations for the 2011/12 season before the latest wet spell.
"We received 3 000 tonnes of seed maize, 60 tonnes of sorghum, 25 000 tonnes of basal and another 25 000 tonnes of top dressing fertilisers respectively under the Government's US$45m input facility," said Mr Mamhare recently.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, MANICALAND
Read more...
Farmers intensify land preparations
Friday, 21 October 2011 00:00
Obert Chifamba Senior Agriculture Reporter
FARMERS in most of the country's provinces took advantage of the rains that fell recently to intensify their land preparations ahead of the 2011/12 cropping season.
In a recent tour of the Manicaland province, The Herald established that farmers using conservation farming methods had already started digging planting stations in their fields.
Some were using ox-drawn ploughs to till the land. Farmers in the Honde Valley and Nyanga districts said they wanted to have all their fields ready before the start of the rainfall season to ease off pressure. The rains are expected between end of October and mid November.
"We know the time is not yet ripe for us to start planting but we will be watching the developments in the weather closely so that we plant with the first actual rains.
"What we are seeing now could just be what we used to know as "bumharutsva" (rains that precede the start of the actual season) so this is the time to wrap up preparations," Spring Valley farmer Mr Edwin Chitere said.
Mr Chitere has a three-hectare farm between Nyanga and Rusape that he acquired in 2000 under the Government's land reform programme. He was equally busy ploughing his fields.
In Nyanga and Honde Valley the situation was the same as farmers were busy clearing and ploughing their fields.
The farmers' commonest complaint was on the prices of fertilisers and seed, which they say are rather unaffordable.
"We are getting fertilisers at prices ranging from US$30 to US$37 depending on the type of the fertiliser.
"Seed is selling for between US$22 and US$28 for a 10kg pocket depending on the variety while a 25kg pocket of seed is attracting prices ranging from US$48 to US$100 here," one Nyanga farmer who did not want to be named said.
In some retail outlets a 10kg of seed maize is selling for between US$19 and US$24 while the 25kg pocket is also priced at between US$47 and US$90 depending on the variety and performance ratings.
Also, in Mashonaland West province, most smallholder farmers have since started tilling land or are mid-way through while those in wetlands have started planting.
Some of the farmers are still ferrying animal and compost manure to their farms and even burning last season's crop residues in readiness for ploughing.
In Mhondoro, for instance, some farmers in wet areas have already planted and their crops are likely to emerge in the wake of the recent rains.
Similarly, farmers in the Mashonaland East province's Murewa, Mutoko and Mudzi districts have also intensified their preparations as they race to beat the first rains.
Their key focus at the moment is getting the land ready for planting though some are still complaining over delayed payments for grain they delivered to the Grain Marketing Board, which they said was checking their momentum.
In Masvingo province farmers started land preparations as far back as August after some rains that the farmers said signalled the end of winter.
Zaka and Chiredzi districts, for instance, that are traditionally dry, were also fortunate to receive the rains.
This gave the farmers the opportunity to start preparing their lands.
The recent rains that are reported to have covered most parts of the country will naturally add impetus to their preparations.
The Meteorological Department and Agritex have since indicated that the rains did not signal the start of the season so farmers needed not plant.
Manicaland Provincial Agricultural Extension Officer Mr Godfrey Mamhare also advised farmers in his province to shelve the planting of maize and other grains but plant tobacco as the rains could nourish the crop until the onset of the season.
The province, he said, was targeting to plant 9 000ha of tobacco and 300 000ha of maize this coming season and had already done 20 percent of their land preparations for the 2011/12 season before the latest wet spell.
"We received 3 000 tonnes of seed maize, 60 tonnes of sorghum, 25 000 tonnes of basal and another 25 000 tonnes of top dressing fertilisers respectively under the Government's US$45m input facility," said Mr Mamhare recently.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION FARMING, MANICALAND
Read more...
Biti frustrating govt efforts: President Mugabe
Posted by By Our reporter at 2 June, at 21 : 07 PM
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has criticised finance minister Tendai Biti, from the MDC-T party, for frustrating people-centred programmes and trying to usurp presidential powers. This is the first time the president has spoken on underhand tactics played by the finance minister.
The president said elections should be held this year or early next year to terminate the inclusive Government because the likes of Biti are frustrating government efforts that are aimed at benefiting the poor and empowering indigenous Zimbabweans.
President Mugabe was addressing chiefs from Manicaland yesterday at the start of his nationwide tour to meet traditional leaders.
“The man we tasked with the country’s money affairs has no appreciation of the struggle we went through,” said President Mugabe.
“To him and some of his colleagues, agriculture is not an important area because they think that if they finance this sector, they will be strengthening Zanu-PF.
“They do not want to see the economy prospering. We got US$500 million from the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights and we do not know what the money is being used for.
“He told us that it is being kept for strategic reserves and we understand that only half of it has been used so far, yet the factories are closing down.
“Mutare is better than Bulawayo where 10 factories were closed, while 75 are almost closing. Some of the companies need small amounts ranging from US$500 000 to US$2 million, yet Biti is continuing to give empty promises.
“Biti is even trying to grab some of the Presidential powers in various ways. We now want this Global Political Agreement to go and this should happen this year.
“If we fail, then elections should be held during the first few months of next year. What we want are elections this year,” he said.
President Mugabe said the Government would continue improving the welfare of chiefs and provide food aid to the vulnerable, whom Biti is not currently focussing on.
“We were even proposing to pay chiefs salaries, but some people argued that they will be more like civil servants, which is a philosophical argument which means nothing.
“We can give them good salaries and they will still remain chiefs. We will ensure that they have decent homesteads so that their subjects will not look down upon them. The electrification of their homes is an ongoing programme.
“I was thinking that all the chiefs now have cars and those still to get them we will ensure that something is done. We will replace old and battered cars,” he said.
The president reminded the chiefs that they were the custodians of the land and should guard it jealously.
“We are the sovereign owners of not only the land, but all resources of this country. We must defend our land and protect our resources.”
President Mugabe said Government would ensure that all vulnerable families will receive free food handouts while those who can buy maize will have the staple food transported to their areas.
He said the introduction of the multiple currencies in the local economy was having a telling effect on some rural households that have no means of getting the money.
President Mugabe said despite the scarcity of the dollars, no-one would starve because measures were being put in place to ensure that those without access to money get the maize for free.
“When we dollarized the economy, we wanted to fight the spiraling inflation. We are the ones who mooted the dollarisation of the economy well before the inclusive Government through the then acting Minister of Finance, Cde Patrick Chinamasa.
“We are aware that our people are having difficulties in accessing the dollars in the rural areas, yet they also want to buy grain. Some of them are selling their livestock for a song because they want to survive,” said President Mugabe.
The President donated computers to 20 schools in Manicaland province.
Speaking at the same occasion, the Minister of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo, called for the review of the chiefs’ allowances which were reviewed once since the dollarisation of the economy.
He said chiefs were getting $200 instead of the $300 they had agreed to pay them with Mr Biti.
“There are also delays in disbursing the chiefs’ allowances from the Ministry of Finance. It appears as if this ministry does not respect the institutions of the chiefs because their allowances are the last to be disbursed,” he said.
The meeting was also attended by the Zanu-PF secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, Women’s League chairperson, Oppah Muchinguri, the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, and other Zanu-PF party officials.
Labels: MANICALAND, ROBERT MUGABE, TENDAI BITI
Read more...
Tsvangirai visits troubled MDC-T Manicaland province
By: Ralph Mutema
Posted: Thursday, April 8, 2010 6:21 pm
MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai was in Mutare on Wednesday to try and unify feuding party members in Manicaland Province. The party's national executive remained mum over what was discussed during the meeting, which was attended by all the party's districts and provincial leadership.
Mr Tsvangirai led an MDC-T delegation that included, among them his deputy Ms Thokozani Khupe; national spokesman Mr Nelson Chamisa; treasurer-general Mr Roy Bennett; chairperson of the women's assembly Mrs Theresa Makone; the deputy secretary-general Mr Tapiwa Mashakada; Mr Morgan Komichi and Mrs Lynette Kore.
Mr Mashakada said the meeting was a private affair meant for party members only and what was discussed was not for the Press' consumption.
"It was a private meeting. It was an in-house thing and was not open to the Press," Mr Mashakada said.
But a source, who attended the meeting, said Mr Tsvangirai had come to try and find solutions to the problems dogging the party in the province.
"Our President (Mr Tsvangirai) wanted to find ways of unifying the party and find the root cause of all problems affecting us in the province. It emerged during the meeting that efforts by the national executive to restructure the party's districts during their last visit last month were not fruitful, as the provincial executive snubbed the national executive.
“Some of the errant provincial members restructured the party districts on their own without the blessings of the national executive.
“The restructuring was done clandestinely, as the provincial leadership is trying to push out founding members of the party," the source said.
Mr Tsvangirai reportedly told the meeting that as the party leadership, they already knew who were causing problems in the province and would not hesitate to crack the whip.
"We know who are causing problems in the province and very soon, we will call the culprits to appear before a disciplinary hearing committee. No-one is bigger than the party," Mr Tsvangirai reportedly told those in attendance.
Investigations into the problems bedeviling the party revealed that some provincial executive members were now law unto themselves and were even barring other MDC-T members from visiting their offices.
There are also allegations of financial mismanagement in the MDC-T provincial structures, which resulted in the provincial office failing to settle a $10 000 phone bill and the resignation of provincial treasurer, Mr Brian James.
Labels: MANICALAND, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
Read more...
MDC-T phone service cut off over unpaid bill
Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:17:00 +0000
TEL-One last week cut services to MDC-T's Manicaland provincial offices in Darlington medium-density suburb of Mutare over an unpaid bill, which is almost US$10,000, as
accusations of financial embezzlement and corruption continue to swell in the party's Manicaland executive.
Party supporters said it was high-time the party's national executive sent auditors to check the party's books at the Darlington offices.
They said the unpaid bill was a result of the many financial mishaps happening at the provincial offices, alleging that some people were pocketing party funds for their own use.
When asked for a comment, the party's provincial spokesman, Pishai Muchauraya, said the party had since purchased contract mobile lines for its workers, hence the land line was unnecessary.
“What is US$10 000? That's little money and we shall pay it. Our workers at the office are now using contract mobile lines and anyone who wants to phone the offices knows the numbers," he said.
Inside party sources said some heavyweights in the provincial executive were diverting party funds for their own use hence the financial discrepancies that were resulting in crucial services like telephones being cut due to unpaid bills.
“There are people who are stealing money. For as long as the people from Harare do not take action about what is happening here, the party will bleed to death,” said the source.
Corruption has since reared its ugly head within the MDC-T, with most local authorities under the MDC-T leadership making the headlines for fraud.
The corruption tide within the opposition party has also swept across the borders with oversees offices of the party in the UK facing a £57,000 corruption probe.
The party's treasure general, Roy Bennet, revealed recently that the British Branch — second only to the South Africa office of the party in importance — had been suspended in the wake of what he described as a problem the party faced "everywhere".
Ambassador-designate for Germany Hebson Makuvise is implicated in the corruption.
Bennett said although a formal instruction had yet to be given, all other overseas branches would be disbanded.
He said the party's branches across the world faced rogue elements.
“They are bleeding us. I would hate to know the amount of money that has been raised by Zimbabweans in exile purporting to represent the MDC. They have used the MDC name and pocketed the money,” he was recently quoted as saying.
The MDC-T secretary-general and Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, also described the unfolding corruption charges as “shocking” financial irregularities.
Labels: MANICALAND, MDC CORRUPTION
Read more...
MDC-T provincial leader arrested
VOA/TZG
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:04:00 +0000
SOURCES in the Movement for Democratic Change party said police in Manicaland province on Sunday arrested Makoni South district chairman for allegedly organizing a political rally without police clearance.
Mudzingwa Bakare was arrested for organizing a rally that was addressed by Economic Planning Minister Elton Mangoma, party deputy treasurer general, at Chitenderano Secondary School in Nyazura, Makoni South district, in eastern Manicaland province, without police clearance.
MDC-T sources said Bakare is being charged under the Public Order and Security Act (Posa), which requires police to be notified of political gatherings.
The party said it was in the process of lining up legal counsel for Bakare. No further details were available at the time of going to press. - VOA/TZG
Labels: MANICALAND, MDC, MUDZINWA BAKARE
Read more...
Factionalism rocks ZANU-PF congress
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare, Zimbabwe
Fri 11 Dec. 2009, 04:00 CAT
FACTIONALISM within ZANU-PF has taken centre stage at the ongoing fifth National People's Congress, with a provincial chairman quitting his post over the failure by the party to nominate his favourite candidate for a top post.
The party's chairman for Manicaland Province, Basil Nyabadza, on Wednesday tendered his letter of resignation while the meeting of the politiburo, the party's highest decision-making body, was dominated by debate on factionalism, which is threatening the unity of the party.
ZANU-PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi said the party has accepted Nyabadza's resignation after it received his letter, in which he said the major reason for his action was that he failed to secure the nomination of party stalwart Didymus Mutasa for the position of national chairman.
Manicaland Province had opted for Mutasa for the post, but Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo secured the backing of the other nine provinces.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday night, party deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi said the party had appointed Manicaland governor Christopher Mushohwe as the acting chairman.
“The Politburo discussed Comrade Nyabadza's resignation and quickly accepted it. We have appointed Comrade Mushohwe as acting chairman and he will lead the province until they elect a new chairman,” Masawi said.
There have been reports of factionalism in several provinces and the issue has been placed amongst the top priority issues at the congress.
Factionalism and the imposition of candidates have been blamed for the party's current poor showing and observers will be keen to see how the party handles this divisive issue.
The five-yearly congress comes after ZANU-PF's first poor showing in an election, in which the party lost total control after 28 years in power, which resulted in the formation of the inclusive government with the MDC in February this year.
The congress got underway on Wednesday with the Politburo meeting, which was followed by the assembly of the Central Committee before President Robert Mugabe officially opens proceedings with his keynote address today.
According to the agenda, President Mugabe will also table the Central Committee report for adoption by congress.
The real business is expected to start when various thematic committees go into a closed session to debate the state of the party, the operations of the inclusive government, the constitution-making process, land reform, the media and international relations.
Committee discussions are expected to continue tomorrow and reports will be tabled on resolutions and the way forward. Also of interest are amendments to ZANU-PF's constitution although clauses that will come up for discussion were not revealed.
This, according to the programme released by the politburo, would be followed by the election of the Presidium top four posts and Central Committee members.
After this, the President will announce names of individuals who will head and deputise the departments of the politburo.
The politburo is ZANU-PF's most powerful decision-making body outside the congress.
President Mugabe is expected to wind up proceedings on Saturday with a closing address.
Labels: BASIL NYABAZDA, EPHRAIM MASAWI, MANICALAND, ZANU-PF
Read more...
Chidzwa families face relocation
by Lebo Nkatazo
12/11/2009 00:00:00
THE government has set aside US$10 million for the relocation of families living in the diamond fields of Chiadzwa in Manicaland, Deputy Mines Minister Murisi Zwizwai said on Thursday.
Zwizwai said the money would be used for constructing houses for the villagers among other infrastructural developments.
“I can confirm that US$10 million has been set aside for the relocation. The relocation may take place after they have harvested their crops,” the deputy minister said in an interview.
In its 100-day plan, the power sharing government which assumed office in February this year listed diamonds from the area as a major source of finance for economic regeneration.
An international watchdog has threatened to blacklist Zimbabwe’s diamonds following allegations of human rights abuses and other illegal activities by the army guarding the area.
Labels: CHIADZWA, MANICALAND, MURISI ZWIZWAI
Read more...
