Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Patience Nyangove
25 February 2008
Harare — GOVERNMENT is set to launch the third phase of the Farm Mechanisation Programme after shipping into the country the majority of an assortment of its targeted equipment from Europe, the Middle and Far East.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is now working on the dates and distribution modalities for a comprehensive launch that is expected within the next week or so.
The consignment of tractors, bulldozers, combine harvesters, irrigation pumps, valves and animal-drawn carts and ploughs was acquired from France, South Korea and China, among others.
It also includes raw material for making pipes and back-up parts for most of the equipment.
The Government has also procured planters and ploughs from France, and Zimbabwean engineers have since been sent to France to acquaint themselves with the equipment.
In an interview yesterday, Agriculture Mechanisation Minister Cde Joseph Made said the central bank was now working out the distribution modalities and the date for the launch.
"Yes, the Reserve Bank is now working on the dates and distribution modalities. I want to emphasise that the third phase of the agriculture mechanisation programme is a comprehensive programme, which includes tractors, combine harvesters, farming implements and the issuing of national irrigation and small animal-drawn implements.
"We have received irrigation equipment from China. It's already here and continuing to arrive. The equipment includes back-up to the Department of Irrigation, tractors, bulldozers, raw materials for making pipes and also irrigation pumps," said Cde Made.
Most agriculture technocrats, said Cde Made, have received training on how to maintain most of the equipment, while some engineers are still out of the country, learning from the countries where the equipment was acquired.
"I am also happy that last week we received training equipment from South Korea for the Department of Agriculture. We have a comprehensive programme where we train our technicians and engineers so that they have a thorough understanding and skills for the equipment.
"Our engineers who had gone on a familiarisation tour of how the equipment is structured and how it is used arrived back on Wednesday. We are very grateful to those countries which are giving us support. We are emphasising on training of our farmers on the installation of equipment and how they will handle the irrigation equipment."
Cde Made said RBZ had in the past few months worked flat out for the mechanisation programme to be successful.
"RBZ has been essential in the training of our farmers. It has been central to the procurement of the equipment and it has also been central to planning and final distribution of the equipment," he said.
The Government launched the first phase of the Farm Mechanisation Programme in June last year as it seeks to take the national land reform programme to its logical conclusion.
It launched the second phase in October and thereafter promised to launch the third phase.
The Farm Mechanisation Programme has benefited both small-scale and large-scale farmers across the political divide.
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