Farai Mabeza, Senior Staff Writer 
ZIMBABWE has adopted a new Chinese agricultural technology, which allows farmers to grow several types of nutritious mushrooms from dried, chopped grasses, without cutting down trees and damaging the environment.
This comes as the country’s funding proposal was approved by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
The technology, developed by Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University in China, is environmentally-friendly and helps small-scale farmers to develop a low-cost, commercial-scale mushroom cultivation industry.
UNDESA chief for the national strategies and capacity building branch division for Sustainable Development Goals, Amson Sibanda, told a workshop in Harare this week, on the “Applications of Juncao Technology and its Contribution to the Achievement of Sustainable Agriculture and the Sustainable Development Goals in Zimbabwe”, that Zimbabwe made its proposal to be part of the project in May this year.
“Zimbabwe is included in the second phase of the Juncao project that runs from July 2021 to June 2024.
“We at the UN see … the Juncao technology as an example of academic excellence and a real game-changer … as it holds potential to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Here in Zimbabwe, the Juncao technology has the potential to contribute to the National Development Strategy 1,” Sibanda said.
The technology can also be used for producing cattle feed and methane gas.
In the long run, depending on local demand and the scale of production, it may also provide opportunities for exporting mushrooms cultivated using the technology.
Agriculture ministry chief director, department of research and specialist services, Dumisani Kutywayo, said Zimbabwe would focus on sustainable production of mushrooms for income generation and food security.
“The … project has come at an opportune time when the Zimbabwean government launched the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy, which seeks to transform the agriculture sector from a US$5,2 billion economy to an US$8,2 billion economy by 2025,” Kutywayo said.
The transformation strategy has a key focus on horticulture recovery and growth, among other areas.
“Juncao technology can help conserve soil and prevent soil erosion. Therefore, while providing these benefits, Juncao technology may also spur economic benefit to desert and semi-arid areas by offering an alternative way of preventing desertification and addressing soil erosion and general degradation,” Kutywayo said.
Gwebi Agricultural College will be used for the pilot project.
Commercial Farmers Union chief economist, Antonette Chingwe, said the new technology presented a number of opportunities for commercial farmers.
“From what we have learnt so far there seems to be an opportunity for commercial farmers to grow Juncao grass on a large scale, as it is high in protein, which can be used for stock feeds and it can be used to prevent siltation of water bodies. It can also act as a windbreak,” Chingwe said.
She said development of the project should look into research on capital costs for farmers who may decide to take it up and possible export markets.
“When commercial farmers go for horticulture crops like mushrooms, what they usually consider is the foreign currency earning potential of those crops, so it’s not yet clear in terms of the availability of a ready export market for the mushroom.
“This (export markets) is something that can drive commercial production of the mushroom,” he said.
In Africa, the project is also being implemented in Lesotho, South Africa and Rwanda.
