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Charity Ruzvidzo Business Reporter
FARMERS organisations are seeking audience with seed producers in a bid to review the astronomical seed maize price increases, which they say will cripple the cropping season and affect next year’s yields.Seed maize prices shot up by nearly 100 percent last month.
A 10kg bag of seed now costs between $27 about $30 from about $15 in the last season. A $25kg long season variety now costs between $68 and $113 up from around $57 to $96.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmer’s Union president, Wonder Chabikwa, said his organisation would meet the seed houses chairman this week to discuss the prices.
“The increase in seed maize prices has affected a lot of farmers country wide. We’ve arranged to meet with the seed houses chairman sometime next week,” he told Business Chronicle on Friday.
“We’re hoping to find out the reasons why the prices increased when the planting season had already begun. We also want to ask them to review their prices since farmers had already set their budget for this season based on the previous prices.”
Chabikwa said next year’s yields were going to be affected if the sudden price increases were not addressed.
“Getting financial assistance as farmers is very difficult. Farmers are struggling as it is. Increasing seed maize prices makes it more difficult especially after farmers had already made their own budgets,” he said.
Chabikwa said his organisation met government officials who professed ignorance about the reasons behind the increase.
The government has said it was going to subsidise inputs in order to ensure that all farmers benefited instead of the present scenario whereby others benefited at the expense of others.
Farmers are still waiting for the fruition of the promised inputs support scheme.
Online Reporter