Pre-planting producer price announced 

Judith Phiri, Business Reporter 

GOVERNMENT has set pre-planting producer price for maize, soyabean, sunflower and cotton as the Second Republic seeks to incentivise farmers for ahead of the 2022/23 marketing season.

The pre-planting producer price for maize and traditional grains was set at US$335 per tonne, while soyabeans and sunflower will fetch US$597,59 and US$687,23 per tonne, respectively.

In a statement on pre-planting producer prices for strategic commodities for the 2022/2023 summer season on Wednesday, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka said the cotton pre-planting producer price would be pegged per grade quality, which will range from US$0,40 per kg for grade D and US$0,46 for grade A cotton.

The announcement was jointly made with the Finance and Economic Development Deputy Minister Mr Clemence Chiduwa.

“A viable pre-planting producer price will incentivise farmers to commit more land under the specific strategic crops. Maize, traditional grains, soyabean and cotton are strategic crops and play an integral role in the Zimbabwean economy,” said Minister Masuka.

He said the marketing and pricing system being proposed was consistent with achieving both food and nutrition security and macroeconomic stability.

The Minister said the proposed prices for maize, traditional grains, soyabean and sunflower are obligatory prices for grains purchased by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) and the proposed price for cotton was an obligatory price for cotton purchased by COTTCO.

Minister Masuka added: “Government will issue a Statutory Instrument that mandates private players to provide returns on storage grains to be able to track national stocks of maize and other grains.”

He said the legal instrument will compel the private sector to provide regular returns on imports, stocks and local purchases of strategic commodities in order to ensure real-time statistics of food availability.

The proposed marketing arrangement notes that there are four categories of farmers that is farmers financed under the Climate Proofed Presidential Input Scheme (Pfumvudza/Intwasa), self-financed farmers, National Enhanced Agriculture Productivity Scheme (NEAPS) financed farmers supported by AFC and CBZ, and farmers financed by private contractors.