adminirrigation and load shedding has over the years partly been blamed for poor yields. Farmers have been grouped into clusters and will be connected to these dedicated lines.
“Zesa Holdings is cognisant of its strategic role in the economy and the role that agricultural plays.
“We have put in place measures that will ensure that farmers have uninterrupted power supplies,” said Mr Gwasira during an interview on the sidelines of the Chamber of Mines conference yesterday.
“However, we still encourage farmers to irrigate their wheat at night to maximise on excess power supplies available during this period.”
The country requires about 400 000 tonnes of wheat annually, but has been unable to produce enough due to constraints such as late disbursement of funds by the
Government and lack of expertise among new farmers.
The shortfall has been met from imports mostly from South Africa and Zambia.
Zimbabwe is expected to produce75 000 tonnes of winter wheat this year, up from 41 000 tonnes produced last year, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation
Development Minister Dr Joseph Made said last month.
The Government has set aside US$20 million for winter wheat farmers, which would be accessed at low interest rates but analysts said this might not be enough.
Mr Gwasira said Zesa would deploy teams to the farming areas to monitor the implementation of the plan.
Zimbabwe needs about 2 200 megawatts but the power utility is producing about half of the national requirement largely due to underperformance of Hwange Power Station, at one of its electricity generating units. It is now importing power from Mozambique, Zambia and the DRC.
The power utility is planning to expand its generating capacity by adding two units to the existing six at Hwange and increase the same number of units at its Kariba Hydro Power Station.
Six bidders have been shortlisted to undertake the expansion projects, Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma said last week.
Mr Gwasira appealed to consumers to conserve power to minimise the effects and extent of load shedding.
Conserving power will also lead to lower bills. Zesa is owed about US$500 million and this has affected its capacity to improve electricity generation.
Online Reporter