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Dr Made said the inputs will be distributed through the Grain Marketing Board.
“Inputs would be accessed at cost price under a credit arrangement. The money as financed would be at a concessionary interest rate of three percent,” he said.
Dr Made said the provision of inputs at cost price was to prevent unscrupulous people from accessing subsidised inputs and then resell at exorbitant price.
“We are trying to avoid arbitrage because there were some farmers who would pick up the inputs and then resell them.
“Each participating farmer would receive a voucher from CBZ and upon receipt of that voucher the farmer would go to the GMB where they delivered their wheat the previous season or the season before that (to collect their inputs),” he said.
He said this will enable GMB to keep proper records of beneficiaries. GMB, said Dr Made, was acting only as a distribution agent for the Government programme.
Dr Made said Government was moving away from provision of subsidised inputs to schemes that are market-based due to financial constraints.
He urged Zesa and Zinwa to work with farmers to ensure availability of power and water.
Minister Biti said the three-year agricultural financing programme announced in last year’s budget will be unveiled in the near future once Cabinet procedures have been completed.
“The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture are concluding work on the three-year agriculture financing plan. The Ministry of Agriculture does the agriculture plan and we do the financing. We hope to launch that once we have gone through the necessary Cabinet processes,” he said.
Minister Biti said the plan was meant to address medium to long-term planning for agriculture to ensure farmers plan on time.
He said issues to be addressed include Government subsidies in agriculture and marketing of produce, among others.
Government was working on modalities to distribute grain to areas that were affected by drought this year, especially the southern regions.
daniel chigunwe
Online Reporter