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some “unscrupulous dealers”.
He said imported maize was finding its way into the country and being resold to the Grain Marketing Board at a profit.
The minister attributed the unprecedented surge in grain imports and deliveries to the GMB to Government’s floor prices that were attractive to unscrupulous dealers.
GMB buys maize at US$285 per tonne, way above regional prices.
This, Minister Biti said, was an indictment that Government should not determine the price of maize.
He said his ministry, that of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development and GMB would soon sign an agreement for a US$30 million input support scheme for farmers to get inputs against their credit to the grain utility.
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There were also reports last night that Treasury had released US$10 million to GMB to pay farmers for grain deliveries.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday told villagers in Mutoko that Government would not provide free inputs this season. PM Tsvangirai is in Mashonaland East province assessing Government projects.
“The major problem is that GMB was never designed to be a buyer of first resort, but the buyer of last resort. Now the GMB is being used as a buyer of first resort, which is a defective marketing mechanism,” said Minister Biti.
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Minister Biti said it was not Government’s business to buy maize from farmers. He said Zimbabwe was importing an average of 30 000 tonnes of maize per month, a figure reflecting market distortions.
The minister said the agreement they were working on would allow farmers indebted to the GMB to get the inputs against their credits.
But Zimbabwe Farmers Union director, Mr Paul Zakariya, yesterday said the full liberalisation of the maize market was not the solution. “Maize is a security commodity and therefore, cannot be liberalised fully. GMB should continue to play its regulatory role,” said Mr Zakariya.
He said a farmer needs at least US$510 per hectare to reap at least four tonnes. The farmer would use 250kg of compound D and 150kg of AN fertiliser for the yield.
Meanwhile, PM Tsvangirai told Mutoko district administrator, Mr Cephas Mudavanhu, and council chairperson, Mr Brighton Muvirimi, that Government would not give farmers inputs this season.
He had asked the officials whether farmers were buying inputs for the season. Mr Muvirimi responded that some were buying while others needed assistance.
“People received free inputs in the first two to three years,” said PM Tsvangirai. “We have gone beyond free inputs.”
This was in direct contrast to President Mugabe’s pledge that his office would mobilise inputs for communal and resettled farmers.
Online Reporter