Toppick Investments has injected R100 million in a massive citrus production project at its Zhovhe Farm in Beitbridge, which will see the planting pf 277 000,orange trees over the next three years. The company, which set up a highly integrated farm at one of the country's to biggest dams, has since constructed an extended pipeline to boost the new citrus farming and horticulture projects.
Zhovhe Farm manager Mthulisi Sibanda said they were importing the citrus propagating material in batches from South Africa: "The citrus project will cover 1100 hectares and our plan is to plant 277 000 orange trees by 2023. So far, we have planted orange trees of the Benny Valencia, Turkey, and Midnight varieties on 700 hectares. These are one and a half years old. We expect to start harvesting in the fifth year."
Sibanda said planting was ongoing on the remaining 400 hectares. He said the citrus project had opened up job opportunities for over 400 people from around the Beitbridge district. Additionally, he said they had grown a total 20 000 lemon trees and that they will introduce more citrus verities in the near future.
[ R1 = € 0.056 ]
Source: chronicle.co.zw