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Sharon Shayanewako
FARMERS yesterday pleaded with Government to review the price of wheat after combine harvester lessors revealed leasing rates, which the former described as too steep to allow them to break even.
AFC Leasing Company has pegged its dry rate charges at Z$70 604, 85 per hectare and Z$106 917, 35 as the wet rate with players only revealing their dry rates of between US$80 and US$100 per hectare.
The Government in March set the pre-planting price for a tonne of wheat at Z$175 741, 86 for ordinary grade with the premium class pegged at Z$193 316, 05.
AFC Holdings strategy, marketing and corporate communications group head, Ms Caroline Mozhendi said:
“We are currently taking bookings for combine harvesters for wheat harvesting and we expect to cover over 25 000 hectares in the next few weeks. We remain committed to support wheat harvesting and have deployed our equipment around the country’s wheat hot spots to ensure farmers are served quickly and efficiently.”
Ms Mozhendi urged farmers to contact them through their various AFC branches, Leasing Cluster centres or call in to book services.
“We have been very innovative in coming up with new payment model where farmers can do barter trade allowing the tendering of crop produce as a form of payment,” she added.
AFC has 46 combine harvesters for the programme while the Government recently revealed that is had mobilised 300 combine harvesters to make sure harvesting is done quickly to save the crop from the early rains.
Chairman Foods Crop Contractors Association Mr Graeme Murdoch said their rates were determined by location and crop size.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president, Dr Shadreck Makombe said the costs of producing wheat were high while the charges for hiring combines were equally high too, which left farmers in a fix.
“This means that farmers will not get any income from the crop so the Government must review upwards the price announced in March if farmers are to get meaningful earnings,” said Dr Makombe.
Dr Makombe said the combine hiring fees were most likely to see many farmers failing to harvest the crop before the onset of the rains.
Zimbabwe Integrated Commercial Farmers Union president Mrs Mayiwepi Jiti said high costs of production and harvesting would leave the farmers without any profits.
“Hiring combine harvesters has always been a tall order due to the high cost of combining coupled with the high cost of production. The cost of harvesting is too high and leaves the farmer with very little or no profits at all especially those whose irrigation system was affected by power cuts. Less water means low yields and less incomes. Better payments for wheat will enable the country to achieve food security as well as empower farmers,” she said.
Meanwhile, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development chief director for Agriculture Advisory Services Professor Obert Jiri yesterday hinted that some of wheat crop was at soft dough stage while the early planted had matured and was ready for harvesting.
“The bulk of the winter wheat is now at soft dough stage but the very early planted and vlei wheat is at maturity and ready for harvesting,” observed Prof Jiri.
He added that quelea control was also in progress across the country saying the wheat crop was generally in good condition.
“The quelea update map of September 7 indicated that a meeting was held on Monday 5, September between Agriculture and Rural Development Advisory Service (ARDAS) and University of Zimbabwe on how the two institutions can work together on management of the birds in outbreak areas,” he said.
The cumulative planted area for wheat to date stands at 78, 798ha, which is 105 per cent of the target area of 75, 000 hectares
Online Reporter