Many Zimbabwean growers have taken advantage of the recent operationalisation of the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan (HRGP) to strike lucrative contract deals for the production of chillies, as the country moves to rebuild its horticultural sector, particularly its olericulture. Olericulture is a branch of horticulture that deals with the production, storage, processing and marketing of vegetables.
The HRGP has enabled the best model farms and export vegetable projects with a traceable history of compliance to benefit under the current olericulture recovery and growth programme. Production of vegetables for the export programme will also target producers of chillies, among other crops.
Wages Chimhanda, Shumbatafari Agriculture head of agronomy, recently urged farmers with irrigation facilities who are interested in chilli production to put at least some of their land under the high-yielding and paying Teja variety. "It is high yielding, at four to six dry tons per hectare, and its pod length grows up to nine centimetres, which makes it easier to pick than shorter varieties commonly grown across the country," said Chimhanda.
He revealed that their initial target was 500 ha for this year and hoped to increase it to 5,000 ha by 2025.
Source: herald.co.zw
