Govt concerned

yesterday said some crops had already been severely affected even before the current dry spell and this will further worsen the situation.
“Maybe the situation would have been made easier if most farmers with irrigation facilities were irrigating normally at the moment but Zesa has since disconnected many of them over unpaid bills,” Minister Made said.
He said the disconnections had also created a human inspired drought.
Minister Made said there used to be three categories of tariffs — the domestic, commercial and farming — which made it easier for farmers to pay their bills at relatively cheaper and more flexible rates.
“They have since scrapped the farming category and put it under the commercial, which has attracted a new way of billing that is now making it difficult for farmers to easily meet their power bills,” he said.  
Zimbabwe Farmers Union director, Mr Paul Zakariya said Zimbabwe was not expecting much from this season especially in Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South as the crops have wilted.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Services Department said Zimbabwe was experiencing a dry spell that would cause very little or no rainfall activity due to the effects of the tropical cyclone Irina currently hitting Mozambique.