Farmers warned of imminent drought in the 2023/24 season
By Delicious Mathuthu
Farmers have been warned of imminent drought in the coming 2023/24 summer cropping season, with weather forecast showing 90 percent likelihood of an El Nino phenomena, Kwedu News can reveal.
Despite good rains in the just ended cropping season, a senior government official says weather forecast models show that El Nino, that causes drier weather patterns in Southern Africa, is back.
This was revealed recently at the Gweru District Winter Wheat Launch at Wanhu Farm just outside Gweru in the Midlands Province, Zimbabwe, where the Chief Director in the Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services,
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri, said the El Nino effect will be stronger this time around and farmers should be prepared.
“The summer season that we are getting to, remember summer is planned in winter and winter is planned in summer.
“We have already started to plan for the coming summer season.
“Forecast for the next season shows that the season will be drier.
“The El Nino is back and this time around a little stronger.
“So that El Nino phenomenon causes droughts or very little rainfall in Southern Africa.
“That is what all forecast models are showing.
“So the next season will be drier and hopefully the subsequent seasons will be better but for sure this coming one will be much drier, that is what the indications are saying.
“In science they say the probability of a draught season is more than 90 percent for the coming season, which means we need to prepare accordingly,” Prof. Jiri said.
He said irrigation will be the mainstay in terms of crop production in the coming season and challenged those without adequate facilities to climate proof.
He said Pfumvudza will be the first pot of call for the larger rural communities powered by the Presidential input scheme.
He said even those who have irrigation facilities should conserve the available water as there will be very little infilling of dams.
“So in rural areas the mainstay will be pfumvudza to conserve moisture through mulching, which should be emphasised,” Prof. Jiri said.
He said Government has already planned for the coming season with shorter maize seed varieties encouraged while input distribution will be influenced by Zimbabwe’s climatic regions.
“Variety choice is key and very short season varieties which mature early are encouraged though the yield is lower, but you get something,” he said.
Prof. Jiri said government will focus on agro-ecological matching under the Presidential input scheme where maize seed will not be distributed in natural regions 4 and 5 because it will definately fail.
Instead, he said, the two regions and parts of region 3, will get traditional small grains which mature under minimum rain.
He said maize production will be expected from the Midland, Mashonalands and Manicaland regions while the rest focus on small grains.
Kwedu Classics
Your story our story
