Staff   Reporter

Farmers in Insukamini lower Gweru, Midlands province, are set to benefit from the Government’s Inskumani Post Harvest Processing Centre that is set to be completed next month.

According to the source in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development, who spoke to this publication today, the centre would assist the farming community in preserving its fresh produce for marketing purposes.

“The Insukamini Post Harvesting Processing Centre will be a game changer to the Insukamini farmers in lower Gweru. The processing centre will solve the preservation challenges being faced by this community. The centre consists of a shade with an open space for grading crops, an office, packing and cold rooms.

“The infrastructure was installed with an eight kilowatts solar system enough to power the cold rooms at the centre,” said the source.

The source further said that the processing plant was very important in rural communities as it supports Government’s rural industrialization agenda.

“The farmers in Insukamini are very happy with the establishment of this processing plant. The capacitating of farmers with this plant is very critical in the drive to foster rural industrialization agenda. In this regard, the state of the produce is of essence as the farmers scout for buyers from across the country while their produce remains fresh. This will help them to accrue better returns from their produce,” said the source

The Government through the Smallholder Irrigation Revitalization Programme, has invested in an over US$55 000 state-of-the-art post harvest and cooling facility that will benefit four irrigation schemes in lower Gweru

Meanwhile, the centre would service farmers under the Insukamini cluster, which consists of four irrigation schemes namely Insukamini, Mkoba, Mabanjeni and London irrigation schemes.