In a bid to bolster fruit production and ensure improved access to essential nutrients, Youth Initiative for Community Development (YICOD) coordinated a transformative training session on fruit tree grafting for enhanced fruit production.
The training was led by Crops Officer, Vitumbiko Zgambo, who explained the art and science of grafting which a method is to propagate new fruit trees by merging buds or twigs (scion) from established trees onto the branches or stems of other trees (rootstock).
“Grafting serves as an essential technique in horticulture, allowing for the replication of desirable traits and the propagation of superior fruit varieties. The choice of rootstock plays a pivotal role in the success of grafting efforts,” she said while emphasizing the significance of factors such as size, suitability to site, and tolerance to specific soil conditions.
In her remarks, one of the lead farmers who attended the training Lucy Kachinangwa said the training has changed her mindset and she will now be practicing and be able to produce seedlings and sell at affordable prices to the locals so that each and every household should have tree fruits.
“The training has made me to decide to go deeper into horticulture, I know I can now make a business out of this and be able to help my family. I will be producing tree seedlings which I will be selling to people at affordable prices so that every household should own a fruit tree,” she said.
This initiative was done under the project entitled ‘Improving nutrition of women through integrated food security and WASH.
