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Livingstone Marufu
NOW hear this — the Grain Marketing Board of yesterday is gone and in-comes the GMB of today. Farmers will smile at this one. Or maybe it’s too early to celebrate?
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister (Crop Production and Mechanisation) Davis Marapira has made a promise that things will never be the same again at the GMB. He says farmers will not only smile all the way to the bank, but will do so in time.
“With farmers’ deliveries at GMB depots, we are confident that the initial food requirement of 1,3 million tonnes from February to December will certainly go down by a significant percentage. We have so far paid about $12 million as of last week and we are working towards paying the remaining amount and we would like to continue doing that. If this kind of dispensation continues, certainly maize and soya bean production will go up.
“We have held a number of meetings with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Treasury to make sure all farmers are paid within the stipulated period of seven days to 14 days.
“By paying our farmers on time, we will also be improving our agricultural sector as well as promoting the local industry and saving much needed forex from getting outside the country,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.
Government has pegged the maize price at $390 per tonne against the private buyers’ price of $360.
The Deputy Minister said although farmers have delivered over 30 000 tonnes of maize to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) this year more still needs to be done to pay them on time.
“It’s no longer the GMB of yesterday, it’s now the GMB of today which pays its farmers on time to promote productivity. The country needs about 1,3 million tonnes of maize from February until the end of the year, and 526 802 tonnes have been imported from Russia, Ukraine and Zambia to avert food shortages.
“It is also understood that contracts for importation of 630 000 tonnes of maize were signed between the GMB and private suppliers. Of this, 129 000 tonnes of grain have so far been delivered,” he said.
He said 91 327 tonnes were available in the Strategic Grain Reserve and 63 000 tonnes had already been distributed under the drought mitigation programme.
The most drought-hit areas are Matabeleland South, Midlands, Masvingo and southern Manicaland.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation recently said crop and livestock production prospects in Southern Africa were weakened by the El Nino weather phenomenon that lowered rains and increased temperatures.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union principal director, Mr Paul Zakaria said, “We are very happy to note that the late rains that we experienced across the country turned around the outcomes in some parts of Mashonaland East, West and Central.
“Those who planted between December 20 and January 15 this year saw their yields increasing by 60 percent as the late rains came at the right time to change farmers’ fortunes.
“We are pleased that our farmers can plant more maize in winter as most of our dams and water sources are at 80 percent capacity due to the late rains.”
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the target for the importation programme (February to December 2016) was 1 361 452 tonnes at a cost of $561 million and to date 526 802 tonnes have been imported.
Online Reporter