Set up sugarcane labs, Govt urged

Government should establish laboratories
to determine the quality of sugarcane to
protect small-scale farmers from exploitation by buyers.
Commercial Sugarcane Farmers’ Association of Zimbabwe secretary-general Mr Darlington Chiwa said buyers who owned laboratories were shortchanging farmers.
“At the moment buyers are the only ones who have laboratories which determine the quality of the sugarcane,” said Mr Chiwa, arguing that the process was not transparent.
“The Government should come up with an independent laboratory which is not attached to the buyers.”
Thousands of blacks were allocated sugarcane plots in the Lowveld under the land reform programme.
White commercial farmers previously dominated the sector.
Sugarcane farming is capital intensive
and many resettled farmers have been
grappling with shortages of funding and equipment.
The farmers are, however, not satisfied with the way their sugarcane is being graded, arguing that buyers, who were the only ones with
laboratories, were downgrading the quality of their crop.
As a result, the farmers were being unfairly compensated for their hard work as their crop was deemed to be of poor quality.
Mr Chiwa said the Government should also complement farmers’ efforts by extending financial support to the sector.
Sugarcane farmers have called for Government support as was the case with other crops such as maize. – New Ziana.