{"id":2515,"date":"2026-06-05T07:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=2515"},"modified":"2026-06-05T07:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:11:13","slug":"umzingwane-farmers-embrace-spices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=2515","title":{"rendered":"Umzingwane farmers embrace spices"},"content":{"rendered":"

by MKHOKHELI NCUBE<\/em>
\nUMZINGWANE – FARMERS in Umzingwane District here in Matabeleland south are embracing a new approach to agriculture as interest grows in high-value medicinal crops such as chilli, turmeric and ginger.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The shift is being driven by Bayethe Village farmer Mthulisi Moyo, whose innovative farming model is inspiring communities across Matabeleland South.<\/p>\n

Although based in the United Kingdom, Moyo and his wife have established a thriving farming enterprise at their homestead in Ward 14, combining crop production with livestock rearing under a carefully managed system.<\/p>\n

Their success recently attracted scores of farmers to a field day organised to showcase the potential of alternative crops in drought-prone areas.<\/p>\n

Many attendees saw turmeric and ginger being cultivated locally for the first time, sparking renewed interest in crop diversification and export-oriented farming.<\/p>\n

Agricultural consultant Mr Jerome Magumbe guided farmers through production methods, including land preparation, irrigation, processing and marketing.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the event, Matabeleland South Provincial Agricultural Business Director Ms Shupikai Sibanda commended the initiative, describing it as a practical example of climate-smart agriculture and sustainable farming.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgriculture today requires farmers to move beyond traditional practices and embrace integrated production systems that improve productivity, profitability and sustainability,\u201d Sibanda said.<\/p>\n

She noted that crops such as chilli, ginger and turmeric are resilient to harsh climatic conditions and offer strong opportunities for value addition and increased income.<\/p>\n

Ward 14 Agricultural Business Advisor Mr Mkhululi Ngwenya said turmeric is being grown on 0,3 hectares, while ginger occupies 0,4 hectares.<\/p>\n

He described Mr and Mrs Moyo as pioneers in spice production within Matabeleland South.<\/p>\n

He encouraged farmers to diversify from conventional crops such as maize and venture into high-value produce with export potential, particularly to markets in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by MKHOKHELI NCUBE UMZINGWANE – FARMERS in Umzingwane District here in Matabeleland south are embracing a new approach to agriculture as interest grows in high-value medicinal crops such as chilli, turmeric and ginger. The shift is being driven by Bayethe Village farmer Mthulisi Moyo, whose innovative farming model is inspiring communities across Matabeleland South. Although […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170,169,172,173,5],"tags":[523],"class_list":["post-2515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agribusiness","category-agricullture","category-crops","category-farming-tips","category-featured","tag-chilli-crop"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1-300x201.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1-768x515.jpg","large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1.jpg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1-300x300.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"administrator","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"by MKHOKHELI NCUBE UMZINGWANE – FARMERS in Umzingwane District here in Matabeleland south are embracing a new approach to agriculture as interest grows in high-value medicinal crops such as chilli, turmeric and ginger. The shift is being driven by Bayethe Village farmer Mthulisi Moyo, whose innovative farming model is inspiring communities across Matabeleland South. Although […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Agribusiness","Agricullture","Crops","Farming Tips","Featured"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":11,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1.jpg",790,530,false],"medium":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Chilli-crop-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"administrator","author_link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?author=2"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Agribusiness<\/a> Agricullture<\/a> Crops<\/a> Farming Tips<\/a> Featured<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2517,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515\/revisions\/2517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}