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Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent
FARMERS have put more than 52 000 hectares under winter wheat as the Government yesterday advised them to extend the planting dates to June 15 to meet the national target of 75 000 hectares, since the conditions are still permitting.
Winter wheat is normally planted in May before the temperatures drop in June because its germination is derailed by coldness.
Government is targeting 75 000 hectares of winter wheat to produce 383 500 tonnes, enough for self-sufficiency.
Speaking at a field day in Rusape, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development chief director, Professor Obert Jiri, said 52 100ha had been planted across all the provinces.
Prof Jiri said in the event that farmers attained a yield of between 7 to 8 tonnes per hectare, the country would be assured of wheat self-sufficiency.
He said he was confident that the country will meet the target.
“To date as of June, 7, we had planted 52 100 hectares of wheat across all the provinces. The province with the highest hectarage is Mashonaland West which has about 16 000 hectares and the rest have not yet met their target because of the late rains. Some farmers are still to harvest their summer crops and this has resulted in delays in planting.
“Most farmers are still harvesting and we need to allow them to harvest when the crops attain the required moisture content and those growers will then be able to plant more wheat,” he said.
Prof Jiri said 55 000 hectares had been opened meaning that this week farmers were able to plant the difference as they opened more land after harvesting their maize.
“It may seem impossible to meet the target, but we will achieve it because we know what hectarage is out there which farmers are opening up. Some farmers delayed planting as their loans were approved late. These farmers are now accessing the inputs.
“Agronomically, we have extended our planting window of wheat by two weeks into June. So Government has announced that we can allow the farmers to plant till the 15th of June to allow for that delay in harvesting and also to allow for more land to be opened.
“We need to assure farmers that they can proceed with the planting up to the 15th of June and we should be able to attain the yields that we want.” Prof Jiri said.
Zimbabwe has been a net importer of wheat prompting the Government to come up with a programme to encourage wheat production on all farms with reliable water sources.
Online Reporter