adminWhile the money falls far short of national requirements, we believe it is a positive development given that the Government is also hard-pressed for resources to attend to all national requirements.
Under the $20 million announced by Agriculture Minister Joseph Made and Finance Minister Tendai Biti in Harare on Tuesday, more that 26 000 hectares of land are targeted for winter wheat.
At least 75 000 tonnes of wheat are expected to be produced, up from 41 000 produced from 14 100 hectares planted last season. The inputs would be distributed through the Grain Marketing Board after a participating farmer gets a voucher from CBZ Bank. The inputs would be accessed at cost price under a credit arrangement at a concessionary interest rate of three percent.
Given our national requirements of more than 400 000 tonnes of wheat annually, the 75 000 tonnes is a drop in the ocean. Farmers estimate that close to $200 million is required to meet our national wheat requirements.
But we believe over time and with more of such facilities coming not only from Government, but other private players, we will reach the promised land where we would not have to import the bulk of our wheat.
It is time for serious farmers to take the challenge, stop mourning about the lack of Government support and stand up and be counted.
We want to urge the authorities to come up with timely interventions, rather than wait until it is late. Planting of winter wheat after the 15 May deadline will have a negative impact on the yield.
In our view, commercial farming is big business and farmers need to know what they are venturing into right from the beginning.
In other words, the Agriculture Ministry should come up with pre-season prices of strategic crops such as maize and wheat so that farmers can plan and are aware of what they will get after harvesting their crops.
There are cases where many of our emerging farmers have resorted to growing other cash crops because the producer prices of maize and wheat are always announced late, and are not encouraging to the farmer.
We also urge the financial institutions handling the winter wheat facility to be sensitive to the needs of farmers. In the past, some finance facilities made available by Government through banks have been difficult to access because of conditions set by the disbursing financial institutions.
The recent case of the Distressed Industries Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) meant to assist companies on the verge of collapse, especially in Matabeleland, is a case in point. Very few companies have had access to the fund allegedly due to conditions set by the disbursing institution.
We, however, hope that the facility for winter farmers would not be difficult to access and that farmers concerns would be taken on board.
Farming is largely affected by time and once a farmer misses planting deadlines, they are bound to incur low yields and heavy losses.
In the end and given the challenges faced by farmers in accessing inputs, we believe contract farming is the way to go for this country. Government alone cannot continue to finance farming.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter