Andrew
Online Reporter
GOVERNMENT will put 250 000 hectares under maize during the 2022/2023 summer cropping season through the National Enhanced Agricultural Productivity Scheme (NEAPS).
Further, more than 50 000 hectares will be put under soyabeans and traditional grains through the same programme, while an additional 50 000 hectares will be put under different crops through the Food Crops Contractors Association (FCCA) supported by the private sector.
Government recently disbursed $20 billion for the Climate-Proofed Presidential Input Scheme, commonly known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa.
Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Dr John Basera told The Sunday Mail Online that Government was pulling out all the stops to ensure farmers are adequately prepared for the cropping season.
“The critical success factor across the Agriculture Recovery Plan is preparedness.
“As a ministry, and as a sector, we have agreed that we need to bounce back better, especially from a drop of about 43 percent in terms of food production, hence we tabled our submission for summer preparedness,” he said.
It was imperative, Dr Basera added, that the country looks inward to ensure food self-sufficiency in light of geo-political developments in Eastern Europe as the “smartest export is not to import something we can produce”.
He commended the private sector for expressing huge interest in partnering Government as it dovetails with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and Vision 2030.
“Most interestingly, we have seen a very positive appetite by our private sector to participate in primary production through some kind of backward integration and intervention. Government is in support of that effort,” he said.
“One of the critical cross-cutting touch points in the NDS1 and Vision 2030 is to crowd in the participation of the private sector as much as possible into the mainstreams of primary and secondary production, and tertiary services.”
Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter