Esigodini farmers geared for new tomato canning plant

THE farming community of Matabeleland South Province is geared to the prospects of a lucrative farming business through supplying its crop produce to the imminent state-of-the-art tomato processing and canning factory in Esigodini.

A number of farmers interviewed by Sunday Farming acknowledged that they were ready to supply the tomato canning plant with produce upon being given the specifics and quality of the crop required by the manufacturers.

Mr Sifisosenkosi Ndlovu, a farmer from Crocodile Valley Resettlement near Esigodini in Umzingwane District said most of the farmers were ready to supply tomatoes to the plant if it starts operating.

"As farmers we need to know the type of tomatoes that the company requires and we provide unless if it already has a market from which it will source its produce from. We have adequate water supplies as we have four boreholes and an engine to use for irrigating crops. We will support that project because we have the resources that will enable us to do so," Mr Ndlovu said.

Another farmer, Mr Nicodemus Maseko said the opening of the tomato canning factory was going to open up a ready market for farmers within its vicinity and the entire province.

"We are very excited about this (opening of the factory) development because it will provide a ready market for us. It (the factory) will come handy in terms of cutting down on transport costs, which to a certain extent was affecting the viability of our agricultural enterprises," he said.

Matabeleland South's Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) officer Mr Judia Ncube said access to a viable market was affecting farmers' productivity in the province.

"Obvious the type of tomato required at the factory shouldn't be just an ordinary tomato. The owners of the plant, once indicated that they would contract some farmers and supply them with the requisite seedling so as to deliver their produce for processing.

"The opening of the plant will open up a market for the farmers to sell their tomatoes within the shortest period of time. The unavailability of a reliable market has seen most of the farmers' produce rotting before being sold resulting in them losing out in potential revenue," Mr Ncube said.

Arda board chairman Mr Basil Nyabadza said a meeting would be arranged with farmers in the Matabeleland region to enlighten them on the type of produce to be delivered at the factory.

"We are going to set meetings with the farming community of Matabeleland where we are going to example the type of crops we need from the selected districts. We intend to do this just before the onset of the opening of the plant," he said.

The tomato processing and canning factory is a public-private partnership arrangement between Zagrinda, a company owned by Arda and Development Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) and beverage manufacturer, Schweppes Zimbabwe.

Zagrinda is owned by Arda and DTZ on a 50-50 basis.