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[QUOTE="Queen, post: 86931, member: 27"]
A stubborn dry stretch is frying fields in Manicaland Province, and farmers are staring at shrinking harvests right when crops needed steady moisture the most.

Manicaland fields buckle under the heat
[LIST]
[*]Manicaland Province farmers say the rain has vanished for weeks.
[*]Temperatures have battered maize and tobacco, leaving leaves droopy.
[*]Several communities fear shrinking income and thinner food stores.
[*]Many smallholders rely entirely on rainfall, which has stalled.
[/LIST]
Critical crop stages at risk
[LIST]
[*]Vegetative fields are struggling without steady moisture.
[*]Tasselling maize demands heavy water to form solid cobs.
[*]Flowering crops are hitting a wall under scorching weather.
[*]Yields could slide further if showers keep dodging farms.
[/LIST]
Power cuts stall irrigation plans
[LIST]
[*]Skumbuzo Todhlana leads the Middle Sabi Farmers Association.
[*]According to Todhlana, the last decent rain fell weeks ago.
[*]ZESA cut electricity over unpaid bills, crippling irrigation schemes.
[*]Save River water sits nearby, yet pumps stay silent.
[/LIST]
Tobacco and grains respond differently
[LIST]
[*]Edward Dune heads the Tobacco Farmers Union Trust.
[*]Dune says dryland tobacco is maturing oddly under stress.
[*]Leaf quality may dip if the heat keeps cooking the fields.
[*]Finger millet and rapoko are holding up better.
[/LIST]
[/QUOTE]

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