International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is currently conducting research in the production of different maize varieties and working with private companies, farmers’ organisations and other development partners to produce drought-resistant varieties and boost maize yields. BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
The programme was aimed at ensuring that Zimbabwe became food-secure through the use of innovative farming methods, such as crop rotation, intercropping and maize-livestock integration.
Cluster agriculture development services field officer Aleck Gora said they were rotating maize with soya beans after every year in the area of Goromonzi district, Mashonaland East Province. “We are trying to measure the crop yield after rotation,” he said. “This area is sub humid so we are also trying out maize and velvet bean.”
He said the organisation was working with over 200 farmers in Goromonzi and Murewa districts.
Previous research efforts tended to focus on improving crop and livestock production as separate entities, often ignoring the potential synergies offered by mixed systems. During a recent field visit to Domboshawa, CIMMYT official Isaiah Nyagumbo also said they wanted to help small scale farmers to integrate their crops and livestock.
“Our focus is on maize and mostly food legumes. We are also looking at legumes for foliage and livestock feed because the idea is considering how else we can ensure that livestock benefits as well,” he said.
He said they had realised that in the area there was not enough foliage to feed livestock so most farmers had an extra plot of Mucuna grass.
Smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe face many challenges, including poor soil fertility, low and erratic rainfall, weak agricultural advisory services and poor market access.
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Over 80% of the country’s rural population depends on smallholder crop-livestock mixed farming with maize, and groundnuts as key food grain crops production.
In addition to increasing human populations and a dwindling natural resource base, farming systems were under greater pressure to provide sufficient food and to sustain farmers’ livelihoods.
