adminZvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Government has secured a multi-million dollar mechanisation facility from Brazil targeting smallholder farmers with beneficiaries getting loans from financial institutions to buy the equipment without the need for security.
Secretary for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Mr Ringson Chitsiko said the distribution of the equipment would be administered with financial institutions and no collateral would be asked.
Mr Chitsiko was giving oral evidence before a Senate Thematic committee on Gender and Development.
“We are trying to source equipment from Brazil within the provision of government to government programme. That equipment, when it comes, we will go through the banks, so that there is due diligence on the ability of the beneficiaries to pay,” said Mr Chitsiko.
He said modalities were still being worked but one option was to constitute people into groups in their localities.
“They can acquire tillage equipment so that the 10 of them or five can have a roster on how to use the equipment. We can also use the usual approach where an individual farmer can apply and due diligence is made by the bank that would be managing that equipment and if he or she satisfies the requirement he benefits,” said Mr Chitsiko.
Mashonaland West Senator, Prisca Mupfumira (Zanu-PF) wanted to know what measures Government had put in place to ensure that affluent people with collateral security would not benefit at the expense of the intended group of smallholder farmers who might not have security.
“The programme is predominantly skewed in favour of smallholder farmers. The only underlying factor is what you are doing on the farm. The issue of security will not arise,” he said. Mr Chitsiko refused to divulge how much the facility was worth when approached by journalists after the hearing.
During his presentation, Mr Chitsiko said Government failed to adequately support farmers with fertiliser because of logistical challenges related to production such as load shedding.
He said out of targeted 81 000 tonnes of Compound D, only 47 percent was made available to farmers and out of 80 000 of top dressing, only 43 percent went to farmers.
He said Government had also added legumes in its support to farmers in order to boost the nutritional value.
Mr Chitsiko said Government would soon direct that application of lime on soil be mandatory to ensure that the soil is preserved. He said there was need to ensure that soils maintain the correct PH, the balance between acidity or alkalinity.
“Let us just make it mandatory every three to four years you must come up with a lime programme. Agritex officers will have a checklist on when lime was last applied,” said Mr Chitsiko.
On winter wheat production, Mr Chitsiko said there was adequate preparation for the crop.
Online Reporter