Online Reporter
Prosper Ndlovu, [email protected]
GOVERNMENT has expressed excitement with the “fantastic” state of crops across the country as rains continue to pour amid early projections of a bumper harvest.
While Government is working on the Crop and Livestock First Round Assessment (CLAFA 1) results, which should be ready by April, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister, Vangelis Haritatos, says preliminary surveys indicate that crops are generally in good condition, including in Matabeleland region, which is usually prone to droughts.
“In general the crop out there looks fantastic. We’re seeing a considerable amount of maize on the ground, traditional grains, sunflower and we remain very optimistic as a ministry,” he said in a latest brief shared by the ministry.
“Indeed this season should be a bumper harvest given the amount of grain that’s in the field and how it looks. The yields look fantastic, the quality of the grain looks fantastic, and we remain positive.
“So, from our side the messaging out there to our farmers is that agronomy, good agronomy and good agronomy can only result in a good crop. So, let our farmers go out there make sure that their fields are clean,” said the Deputy Minister.
He also expressed satisfaction with the support Government has given to farmers to ensure a successful season.
The second round assessment (CLAFA 2), is expected to provide consolidated national production figures that will guide grain marketing, strategic reserves planning and broader food security policy.
Meanwhile, the Department of Mechanisation has put modalities in place to ensure that combine harvesters are serviced well on time and ready for deployment to clusters in the next few weeks rather to assist farmers, including those engaged in winter irrigation.
On tobacco, Deputy Minister Haritatos said the crop situation was “very exciting” with production going up by 15 to 20 percent higher than last year in terms of crop in the ground.
“So, we’re so excited and next week on Wednesday the 4th of March we open the tobacco floors, which is where we will now get a glimpse of what pricing will come out of our tobacco leaf. The gold leaf definitely is a successful story this year,” he said.
“So, in general we are very excited about this season. We have a very good crop in the ground.
“We can see that traditional grains are doing fundamentally well in the field there. We’re expecting a good yield and just to remind our farmers that this year our policy of the grain swap continues,” said the Deputy Minister.
“Should a farmer have excessive traditional grains and he or she wants to swap at GMB for maize, this is something that we will continue to encourage.”
