Producer prices fair if payments are prompt – farmers’ unions

Edgar Vhera Agriculture Specialist Writer

FARMERS’ organisations yesterday welcomed the grain producer prices announced by the Government and challenged the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) to pay the full amounts on time to enable farmers to use their earnings to finance other cropping activities.

The Government set the price for maize and traditional grains at US$335 per tonne with payment split as US$200 to be paid in foreign currency while the remaining US$135 will be paid in local currency at the prevailing weekly Tuesday interbank rate.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union secretary general, Mr Paul Zakariya said the producer prices were fair if payment was effected on time.

“The announced maize and strategic grain prices are fair if farmers are paid their full amounts and on time. There is need to ensure that the local currency component is paid on time to preserve its value given that most inputs and other services are paid for in foreign currency,” said Mr Zakariya.

He said timely payments would enable farmers to settle their other obligations, as most Government support schemes provided farmers with inputs without funds for other services like labour and equipment maintenance.

Mr Zakariya disclosed that most input stockists were not using the prevailing interbank but parallel market rate when quoting prices for their products when they used the local currency.

There was need to put fundamentals in place to restore value of the local currency, said Mr Zakariya.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president Dr Shadreck Makombe concurred that the prices were fair and similarly urged the Government to ensure payments were made timeously after the grain deliveries.

“We acknowledge the producer prices announced by Government, as they are in tandem with what farmers were calling for.

“Our plea is for the Government to ensure that payment is effected soon after the product is delivered to maintain the true value of the money.

The Government has retained the pre-planting maize and strategic grain producer prices it announced in December last year. They were set anchored on the cost of production plus a 15 percent return on investment benchmarked on import parity prices.