ALL wheat farmers that delivered their crop to the Grain Marketing Board shall be paid soon with the required $1,7 billion to clear all outstanding payments now having been released to the GMB, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has said.
Addressing wheat farmers at Tarquina Farm near Karoi on Thursday, Dr Masuka said Treasury had released $1,7 billion, which would be used to pay outstanding balances for wheat deliveries.
“This process has commenced and is anticipated to have been finished next week,” he said.
Zimbabwean farmers are basking in the glory of attaining wheat self-sufficiency for the first time since large scale wheat farming started in the 1960s, after harvesting 380 000 tonnes.
The country requires 360 000 tonnes of wheat to go through a year without imports.
With wheat harvests just needing to be maintained, Dr Masuka said the next crop being targeted for significant growth is sunflower to ensure increased production of cooking oil and margarine.
“The success story we recorded in wheat has seen Zimbabwe receiving plaudits across the continent, with President Mnangagwa being invited to Rwanda and Ivory Coast to share how we managed produce more than enough wheat.
“This is a sign that we can also plug the import bill emanating from the purchase of edible oils from outside the country,” he said.
Zimbabwe imports sunflower and soya-bean oil from South Africa and Eastern Europe. Ukraine and Russia are the two largest sunflower producers.
However, the ongoing special military operation being conducted in Ukraine by Russia has seen distribution channels of goods and services affected, hence the need to ensure self-sufficiency.
Dr Masuka challenged farmers in Makonde, Zvimba and Hurungwe districts to work harder so that the nation produces enough summer crops.
The three districts produce over 30 percent of the country’s total maize output while Mashonaland West contributes over 50 to 58 percent of Zimbabwe’s yearly targets. The province has set a target of 360 000 hectares of maize this year.
Provincial agronomist Ms Siyena Makaza said although the province had received effective rains mid-November, delays in inputs distribution by contracting banks CBZ, AFC and Women’s Bank, resulted in Mashonaland West lagging behind the target with only 40 percent of the hectarage having so far been put under maize.
Provincial Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services director Mrs Evelyn Ndoro is optimistic Mashonaland West will meet targets for most crops except cotton, whose planted area stands at 40 percent, and already outside the planting window.
Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mary Mliswa-Chikoka challenged farmers to fund themselves instead of waiting on the Government.
Host farmer, Mr Fidelis Muchenje of Tarquina Farm, has put 52 hectares under maize using own funds.
The professional hunter and safari operator, who has a herd of 100 cattle, has done three hectares under tobacco and two for groundnuts. – The Herald
