BRILLIANT MUKARO
Mirror Reporter

GUTU – The Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) School of Agriculture has urged Gutu farmers to shift to small grains in order to achieve food security for their families and the country.
Two GZU lecturers from the Gary Magadzire School of Agriculture made this plea at a field day held in Machingambi Village near Chinyika Business Centre in Ward 10, Gutu North.
The field day took villagers on a tour of a two-hectare sorghum field sponsored by the University’s Gary Magadzire School of Agriculture under its small grains project which also forms the University’s innovation hub.

There are 55 farmers in Ward 10 contracted by the University. The university contracted farmers in Ward 10 only. Tizvione Gutuza, one of the Agritex officers who guided the farmers said that the research is enlightening and will have a huge impact in the area.
Around 60 people from the Ward gathered at Samuel Mudzvova’s homestead, a villager contracted by GZU to grow the crop. The lecturers, Pardon Chidoko and Everson Dahwa handed over prizes to six farmers adjudged the best.
Mudzvova won The Most Outstanding Farmer Award and he got a bag of fertiliser. The other farmers who won prizes are Vimbai Mlambo, David Chinyamanake, and Kokerai Masiya who all got ploughshares.

The University contracted 800 farmers throughout Masvingo and 55 of them from Gutu to grow small crops mainly rapoko and sorghum and will buy the crops after harvest. There is a total of 1 600 hectares of land under the small grains project.
The University’s small grains project which is headquartered in Chivi, a Region 4 and 5 area seeks to see the country transforming from a maize centred staple food to a small grain staple food. The hub will add value to the small grains by producing flour, cakes, refined mealie meal and stock feeds.
GZU is building a small grains processing plant in Chivi.

Chidoko and Dahwa said the insistence by farmers on growing maize is a colonial mentality that has left households hungry year-in, year-out. They said that the small grains were the most suitable to the low rainfall climatic conditions found in Zimbabwe.
“Our people have been taken over by maize production. Whenever maize fails like this year, Government declares a state of emergency. That is not the solution, the solution is to turn to traditional grains that sustained our ancestors over the centuries. We need to change our mind set and relook at the small grains,” said Dahwa.
Chidoko said there is a negative attitude towards small grains.

“We want to change the negative attitude towards rapoko, sorghum and millet. People must understand that small grains are the crops for the dry regions. Colonialists introduced maize to us and we enjoyed and never looked back to our original grain,” said Chidoko.
David Zivanai a farmer in the village applauded GZU for the research project.
“Those of us who put our land under small grains this year are smiling. It’s a different story for maize farmers who got nothing,” said Zivanai.