MIDWEEK REPORTER
ZVISHAVANE- Godden Munyani, a farmer who is into tomato production bemoans low water levels as they negatively affect his yield levels.
Munyani told The Midweek Watch in an interview that he is into tomato production together with his sons under the brand name MUGO and Sons enterprises, but they cannot reach their potential due to water shortages.
Munyani practices intensive tomato production at his homestead located in Zvishavane’s Mazvihwa area near Mutambi Clinic on his 0.5hectare piece of land which is not enough to include other crops.
He is currently producing over 80 crates of tomatoes on the 0.5 hectare piece of land which he supplies directly to the market excluding the ones bought at source.
“My greatest challenge is lack of water, my borehole is just for domestic use and has limited capacity as I need about 10 hours to fill a 5000litre tank for my tomato irrigation.
.
“What it entails is that the crop planted should be commensurate with the amount of water available hence I can’t reach full capacity.
“I cannot have more than crop in the ground due water challenges, my main at the moment is to raise enough funds to sink another borehole with a bigger capacity or if anyone can come to my rescue, I will be very grateful as that will double my yield.
“Relying on one crop is not wise especially tomatoes which sometimes get flooded on the market forcing prices to tumble,” said the seasoned farmer.
Munyani as an Agritex officer had some words of advice to other farmers.
“My word of advice to other farmers is that, knowledge is power, good farming starts with the technical knowhow, one must be hands on, there are no short cuts in farming because farming is a science.
“Never work alone in farming, learn to share knowledge with other farmers,” said Munyani.
Munyani has more than 16 years of experience as an extension officer.
