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Fildah Gwati
GOVERNMENT has committed to paying the remaining US$19, 4 million owed to farmers for the wheat they delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in the 2023 season in two weeks.
This comes as GMB paid out another US$14, 6 million to farmers recently.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Professor Obert Jiri revealed this on the side-lines of the symposium on ‘Combating food insecurity in Southern Africa in the era of climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures’ held in Harare yesterday.
“The Government owed farmers a total of $34 million, but progress has been made recently as last week, a payment of $4, 6 million was disbursed and an additional $10 million was paid at the beginning of this week. We are making efforts that in the next two weeks, farmers will be paid their outstanding payments,” he said.
Prof Jiri said the timely payment of outstanding dues was crucial as the country looks forward to an uninterrupted winter wheat planting season.
“We aim to expedite the planting process within the next two weeks to reach 75 percent of the designated hectarage. Currently, on the eighth day of the winter wheat planting season, approximately 2 500 hectares have been sown out of the season’s target of 220 000 hectares,” Prof Jiri said.
The wheat planting window stretches from May 1 to 31, depending on altitude. For low veld, it is recommended to plant early from May 1 to 10 with the middle veld spanning from May 1 to 15 while the high veld stretches through the whole month of May.
He called on farmers to capitalise on these optimum periods to produce a good yield.
Prof Jiri encouraged farmers to join wheat farming as ample inputs such as fertiliser and seeds are available to support them in the planting process. He added that they were going to ensure that farmers requiring sufficient water resources would receive them after robust assessments being conducted by Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA).
Prof Jiri added that the current season presented the best opportunity for the country to recover from the just-ended season’s drought.
GMB corroborated Prof Jiri’s revelations in a recent X (formerly twitter) post saying: “GMB wishes to advise our esteemed farmers and stakeholders that significant progress has been made in farmer payments. To date, wheat payments amounting to US$23, 7 million have been made. The GMB last week made a payment of US$4, 6 million and US$10 million this week. The clearing of outstanding payments is a serious priority and GMB appreciates the commitment of our farmers in ensuring national food self-sufficiency.”
Online Reporter