Wheat |
Government is
targeting 350 000 tonnes of wheat in the next three years to guarantee
sufficient domestic wheat supplies and to reduce reliance on imports.
Zimbabwe needs about 400 000 tonnes of wheat annually but produced only
65 000 tonnes last year.
Finance and
Economic Planning Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the country will save
as much as $200 million on wheat imports if it was to meet the target.
The targeted output would be the highest mark ever to be produced in
this country and would surpass the highest output of 325 000 in 2001.
High yields expected in the next three seasons will be driven by highly
organised supply of all inputs and electricity.
"The country is
targeting 350 000 tonnes of wheat output by 2020 in a bid to save much
needed foreign currency into the economy. We expect this year's output
to be around 160 000 tonnes and 200 000 tonnes by next year. In 2019 we
anticipate the target to improve by 50 000 tonnes to 250 000 tonnes and
this shows a growing economy," he said.
Zimbabwe had
initially projected 200 000 tonnes of wheat but due to the top dressing
fertiliser and other small technicalities the output is now expected to
be 160 000 tonnes. Farmers with the early planted crop had encountered
quelea birds, but Government has committed some funds to deal against
those post-harvest losses.
The Command
Agriculture programme which started this season with maize production
was expanded to include winter wheat, with thousands of farmers now
using irrigation facilities to augment rain-fed agriculture. Farmers
were provided with all the inputs, as was the case with maize. Stop
order will be used under all Command programmes, wheat included.
Upon harvesting,
farmers will be expected to deliver an agreed tonnage to the Grain
Marketing Board as repayment for the loan advanced to them in the form
of inputs such as wheat seed, fertilisers, chemicals and tillage
services.
Various farmers
with irrigation infrastructure have in the past failed to grow wheat
because of lack of financial resources to buy the inputs, a gap that
Government has bridged through the Command winter wheat programme.
The private sector
invested $100 million for this year's wheat crop. Sakunda, National
Foods, Northern Farming Company, Stay Well Company and CBZ Bank have
committed to supporting cultivation of winter wheat.
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