Zimbabwe Farming Brief

Dr Anxious Masuka: Well, certainly the prediction this year is that we'll have a very strong El Nino and so we need to plan appropriately. There's no need to panic.

Nyasha: That was Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka, speaking to ZTN Prime at the CORESTA tobacco congress in Victoria Falls this week. Good morning. This is the Zimbabwe Farming Brief from Executive AI Studio, for Thursday the twenty-ninth of October. I'm Nyasha, an AI presenter, and with me is our AI correspondent, Farai.

Farai: Morning, Nyasha. Good to be here.

Nyasha: This week, storms and hail arrive as farmers race to bring in the wheat. Pfumvudza maize seed is in, but much of the fertiliser is not. Our main story: the minister says tobacco can ride out El Niño, but a scientist warns of pests. And we'll end with good news from fish farmers.

Farai: Thanks, Nyasha. On the Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange price board this morning, maize is at thirty-seven US cents a kilogram and yellow maize at thirty-four point seven cents. Soya beans are at sixty cents, wheat at forty-six and white sorghum at thirty. The Grain Marketing Board's incentive price for maize stands at three hundred and sixty-four US dollars seventy-five a tonne.

Nyasha: And tobacco?

Farai: The auctions closed in August, Nyasha. More on that later.

Farai: On inputs, an Agricultural Development Advisory Services report shows Pfumvudza maize seed is past its target. Top-dressing fertiliser is at half its target, and Compound D at twenty-two percent. Sorghum seed lags, at about one thousand two hundred and seventy tonnes against a target of six thousand six hundred. That matters, because Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka wants all three million households to grow a traditional grain this year.

Nyasha: Now, the weather. What you're hearing is a thunderstorm on a steel roof. The Meteorological Services Department warned of thunderstorms, hail and heavy downpours this week. They began on Tuesday in Matabeleland North and South, Bulawayo, the Midlands, Masvingo and southern Manicaland. On Wednesday they moved north, to Harare, northern Manicaland and all the Mashonaland provinces, through today.

Nyasha: In eastern Beitbridge, Tuesday's hail damaged a clinic and two schools at Tshituripasi. Jahson Mugodzwa, from the district's civil protection committee, spoke to The Herald. Here's what he said, read by an AI voice.

Jahson Mugodzwa (read by an AI voice): You will note that there are some extensive damages to most buildings here and we would need more resources to get things back to normalcy

Nyasha: The department's seasonal forecast is for a drier than normal October to December in every province.

Nyasha: Storms are a worry for wheat farmers. The department warned that rain on a maturing crop could harm grain quality. Farai, how much is in?

Farai: More than four hundred and seventy thousand tonnes, about seventy-one percent of the national target. On the nineteenth of October, it was two hundred and thirty-four thousand. The Permanent Secretary for Agriculture, Professor Obert Jiri, wants farmers to work closely with their harvesting contractors. Here's how he put it.

Professor Obert Jiri (read by an AI voice): We are encouraging farmers to plan and coordinate with contractors so that fields are ready, and fuel and transport are available when harvesting machinery arrives

Nyasha: Our main story is from Victoria Falls, where the world's tobacco scientists met this week for the CORESTA Congress. Farai?

Farai: Zimbabwe is aiming for three hundred and sixty million kilograms of tobacco this season, slightly more than last year. Agriculture Minister Anxious Masuka told ZTN Prime why he is not worried. Here's what he said.

Dr Anxious Masuka: Tobacco is generally a drought tolerant crop and does well in drier years in terms of both quality and yield. Our expectation is that tobacco will not be as drastically affected as the cereals. So, production should continue.

Farai: Growers can also plant before the rains arrive.

Nyasha: Sorry, Farai, how?

Farai: With irrigation. It's called dry-land planting, and it lets growers plant up to six weeks before the rains are expected.

Farai: But a hot, dry season brings its own risks. Doctor Cleopas Chinheya heads plant health at Kutsaga Research. Here's his warning.

Dr Cleopas Chinheya: The implications to the industry are that insects reproduce faster. And diseases, the hardier diseases, particularly soil borne diseases, wreak havoc in drier seasons like this one.

Farai: There was better news on curing, which for most small growers means burning wood. Aaron Denenga chairs the board of Kutsaga Research. Here's how he described it.

Aaron Denenga: one of the biggest issues we have in Zimbabwe is deforestation. And now we have come up with new technologies which could itself has come up with, which is better barns that have reduced the use of of wood by 50%.

Farai: This week's tip comes from the Matabeleland North launch of Pfumvudza on Tuesday. Minister of State Richard Moyo urged farmers to harvest and hold water in their fields, using infiltration pits and tied ridges. He asked livestock farmers to build fodder reserves and keep water supplies reliable. Ask your local AGRITEX officer for the right design for your fields. Here's the minister.

Richard Moyo (read by an AI voice): We must not wait for the effects of drought to become visible before taking action. The time to prepare is now

Nyasha: And finally, fish farming is growing fast. Fish production rose twenty-four percent last season, to more than thirty-three thousand seven hundred tonnes. Active fish farmers now number eight thousand six hundred and sixty-three, up from four thousand eight hundred and three. And the number of fish ponds is up a hundred and twenty-nine percent in a year.

Nyasha: This show is brought to you by Executive AI Studio. We build AI assistants for Zimbabwean businesses. Find us at executiveai.studio.

Nyasha: Sources for every story are in the episode notes. For advice about your own crops or animals, talk to your local AGRITEX or veterinary officer. This brief was researched and written by AI. I'm Nyasha. Have a good week.