By Agencies
THE Government has launched an ambitious rural mechanisation programme that will see every village equipped with at least one small tractor as it accelerates rural industrialisation, boosts food security and modernises agriculture.
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The initiative, aligned with National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), is anchored on the establishment of Village Business Units (VBUs) across the country’s more than 35 000 villages, transforming traditional subsistence farming into productive, market-oriented rural enterprises.
For decades, many rural communities have relied largely on ox-drawn ploughs and hand hoes.
Under the new model, each village agriculture hub will be supported through a VBU; a community-owned rural industrialisation package comprising a solar-powered borehole, water storage tanks with communal taps, a fenced one-hectare drip-irrigated horticulture garden, fish ponds for aquaculture, basic livestock watering and feeding infrastructure, and modern production technologies, including irrigation equipment.
To support these operations, the Government is rolling out small tractors tailored for village-level use, enabling timely land preparation, cultivation and other mechanised operations.
The VBU concept is designed to function as a local business centre where villagers jointly produce, add value and market agricultural products, creating employment, improving household incomes and strengthening food and nutrition security at grassroots level.
Speaking at a summer cropping season progress assessment at Riverton Farm in Masvingo last Saturday, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary, Professor Obert Jiri, said mechanisation is the backbone of rural agro-industrialisation.
He said the days of relying solely on hand hoes were over.
“We want our farmers to transform and move with the times to embrace mechanisation,” said Prof Jiri.
“The Government is rolling out smaller tractors for the rural areas.
“Every village should have at least one small tractor to service the VBU and the village itself.”
Prof Jiri said mechanisation is no longer a luxury, but a necessity if the country is to modernise agriculture and unlock the full potential of the rural areas.
“By placing appropriate tractors at village level, we are ensuring that land preparation and other critical operations are done on time, which directly translates into higher productivity,” said Prof Jiri.
The programme is centred on strengthening village-based production systems through VBUs, which Government views as engines of grassroots economic transformation.
“We are not talking about large commercial tractors that are expensive to maintain,” he said.
“These are appropriate machines designed for small plots, horticulture and village-level production, and they can be shared and managed collectively by communities.”
Prof Jiri said the mechanisation drive would complement existing Government programmes such as irrigation development, Pfumvudza/Intwasa and climate-smart agriculture, ensuring year-round production even in the face of climate variability.
“As we continue to do our monitoring visits, we are seeing the plan of what different provinces are doing in terms of their farming.
“For Masvingo province, certainly the mainstay is agriculture, very little in terms of other activities. Of course, the climate for Masvingo favours more traditional grains production, which we are encouraging a lot,” he said.
With investment in irrigation, Masvingo is expected to become a major hub for the production of cereals and other crops.
Masvingo has 52 percent of the nation’s water and that water must be converted to production, said Prof Jiri.
“It means that if we really can put all the water to agricultural production, Masvingo should be the hub of our food security, and that is what we must encourage,” he said.
Value addition at farm level is also seen by the Government as critical for economic growth.
The plan is to ensure that no raw materials leave the farm, with wheat grain leave as bread or flour, maize as maize meal or as meat when fed to livestock.
Milk should also leave the farm as cheese, yoghurt and other value-added products, not as raw milk.
Prof Jiri also highlighted the importance of farm-level preparedness amid heavy rains.
He said farmers must open drainage facilities to avoid waterlogging, split-apply fertilisers to prevent leaching, and use foliar and liquid fertilisers to ensure crops absorb nutrients efficiently.
“Make sure that your livestock are not stuck in the mud in low-lying areas where localised flooding may happen.
“Keep them on higher ground with access to feed. For livestock and crops, farmers must respond to the rains, harvest the water and take care of their farms,” he said.
The mechanisation drive, combined with VBUs, irrigation and modern technology, is key to transforming rural communities, boosting food security, and creating sustainable employment.
Said Prof Jiri: “This is how we build resilience and lay a firm foundation for inclusive national development.”
-Herald
