MATABELELAND SOUTH province is expecting a bumper harvest following the good rains falling across the country in the 2025-26 agricultural season.
Speaking to Southern Eye yesterday, Matabeleland South provincial agricultural rural development services director Shupikai Sibanda said major cereal crops were looking very good.
Sibanda said farmers in all parts of the province were busy weeding and applying top dressing fertiliser to their crops.
“The bulk of the traditional grains are tasselling. The late-planted crop is at the vegetative stage. The outlook is good. Planting of sugar beans is in progress. Given this scenario, Matabeleland South is heading for a bumper harvest,” she said.
Sibanda, however, encouraged farmers to plant crops such as sorghum, millet and sunflower, which she said were suited to the agro-ecological region.
“Farmers are being urged to scout for any outbreak of fall armyworm. The war against weeds has been declared, where farmers are advised to use all methods available to control the weeds,” she said.
Arda Antelope Estate in Maphisa and Arda Ngwizi Estate in Mangwe owner Dean Leroux, shared the same sentiments, saying the crop situation for this year is looking good.
“We have a combined 1 350 hectares of maize crops on both estates, where Antelope has 700 hectares. We have a very good power supply and water, coupled with the good rains,” Leroux told Southern Eye.
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Chief Mathe of Gwanda also predicted a good harvest this year compared to previous seasons.
“Some of our crops are now at the pollination stage; the farmers were expecting the rains, which actually came at the right time,” he said. “Only a few farmers failed to till their land due to lack of draught power.”
He, however, lamented the failure by some farmers to get seed maize from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), which has been the main supplier of inputs over the years.
“Every year we get agricultural input, which also includes fertiliser from GMB, but this did not happen. We got our annual assistance from the Zimbabwe National Army, which started a programme of engaging chiefs and after the engagements, the traditional leaders received the inputs,” he said.
Chief Mathe said last year they got inputs from the government through the Isiphala seNkosi programme and non-governmental organisations.
