A farmer in Beitbridge has invested 240 hectares into wheat production and is expecting a yield of five tonnes per hectare, as government strives to reduce the import bill of cereal crops through full utilisation of the land.
Zhovhe Estate in Beitbridge is set for bumper harvest of wheat after benefiting from inputs support through the Command Agriculture programme.
The estate has invested in agriculture equipment that includes tractors, combined harvesters and 17 centre pivot machines for irrigation.
Besides the 240 hectares of wheat, there is also 70 hectares of maize, 105 hectares of soya bean and 10 hectares of lucerne.
Farm Manager, Mr Mthulisi Sibanda said the investment is a clear testimony of land reform beneficiaries’ commitment to ensuring food security in the country.
“We are playing our part in food security and we are also demonstrating that that we, as black people, have the capacity to feed the nation and all we need is an opportunity to have access to land, thanks to the land reform programme,” said Mr Sibanda.
The estate has also invested in the milling and processing of crops to produce and pack maize meal, baking flour, stock feed and fish meal.
Mr Sibanda said they are now supplying local schools, shops and the community with maize meal and flour, while oil expressers have also secured soya bean consignment from the farm.
“ We have this investment in machinery to do processing and follow the value chain of our products so that eventually our on farm processing is enhanced,” he said.
Apart from cereal production, the farm has also diversified into fish farming, producing two tonnes of fish per week.
