about
Balu Estate was originally established in the late 1960’s as a conglomeration of Seaborough, Balu, Pampoenpoort and Kennebec properties. Originally owned by the Norvall brothers, the properties were sold to government in the early 1980s.
The estate is situated 34 km from Bulawayo’s city centre on the Victoria Falls road and 15km from Bulawayo International Airport. The estate has 4 management houses, 50 staff houses, a fully operative workshop as well as a functional airstrip. There is adequate energy & electricity infrastructure in place.
ARDA (Agriculture and Rural Development Authority) owns 4556 ha Balu Estate. The farm has arable, irrigable potential of 2000 hectares and contains a dam in the North East section with a capacity of approximately 13.5 million cubic meters of water. There is potential to raise the spill way and increase the water holding capacity of the dam to close to 17 million cubic meters. The dam, known as Pampoenpoort Dam, was commissioned in 1970.
Average annual rainfall is 600mm, with minimum winter temperatures reaching -4C and maximum summer temperatures reaching 35C. The farms soils consist of a combination of black cotton, red clay/loam and sandy loams with lesser clay content. The well drained soils along with the cold winters and hot summer days and abundant stored water are ideal fundamental attributes for a large-scale pecan agri-business.