Subsidising agricultural inputs at manufacturing level mooted

and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said subsidising the industry was helpful.
“This is the current debate going on. Even in Zambia and Malawi, farmers have benefited from the subsidies and Zimbabwe can follow suit,” he said.

Government is subisidising farmers especially small scale and vulnerable groups.
But this has resulted in the inputs being abused by people who take seed and fertilisers for resale instead of farming.

Minister Made said it was unfortunate that sometimes farmers misdirected subsidised inputs for other requirements.
For instance some farmers were using subsidised fertiliser to produce tobacco when the commodity would have been meant for food crops such as maize.