Concern over delay of wheat producer price announcement

the farmers argue, makes it difficult for them to make informed planning and marketing decisions.
A director at Mazowe Citrus Estates, Mr Rufaro Gunundu yesterday said it was important for Government to announce the producer price in time to enable farmers to budget.
“Farmers need to hire combine harvesters or labour so they need to negotiate for those services knowing the ultimate price of the crop. They do not even know whether they will break even or not after selling the cereal,” Mr Gunundu said.
Combine harvester owners are charging between US$100 and US$120 for the harvesting of a hectare of wheat.
These charges are dry rates, which means that farmers still have to fork out more money to buy fuel.
Many farmers, said Mr Gunundu, would be comfortable with a producer price of between US$500 and US$520 for a tonne on wheat, as this would allow them to break even.
Last year the Grain Marketing Board paid US$466 for a tonne of wheat. Another wheat farmer from Glendale in Mashonaland Central, who declined to be named, said they needed to know the producer price so that they could use their crop and yield estimates as collateral when borrowing or negotiating for services.
“Some liberal banks can even extend loans on the basis that farmers can re-pay after selling their wheat to GMB, that is, after inspecting the crop and the hectarage and link it to the announced producer price,” she said.
She said the rainy season was fast approaching yet many farmers still had wheat in their fields, a development she partly attributed to the uncertainty over the prices of wheat and the incapacity of farmers to hire combine harvesters owing to the liquidity crunch the economy is facing.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union second vice president Mr Berean Mukwende said the current scenario in which farmers were harvesting and sending their wheat to the GMB without knowing the price did not allow farmers to plan with their targeted revenue in mind.
“In fact, some may end up withholding their crop waiting for better paying buyers but may also fall prey to unscrupulous buyers in the process,” he said.
Private buyers are reportedly paying US$400 for a tonne of wheat but the farmer has to secure his own transport, which naturally chews into the profits.
Most transporters are charging amounts varying from US$30 to US$40 to ferry a tonne of wheat to private buyers most of whom are found in Harare.