US$26,2m for wheat

Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said US$11 million would go to rehabilitation of smallholder irrigation schemes and US$5,2 million was for buying last season’s fertiliser and seed from the Grain Marketing Board.
“The other US$10 million will go towards mobilising other wheat production related resources,” Minister Made said in Harare yesterday.
He said the sector needed an additional US$10m and the Finance Ministry was working on raising this.
“Banks are also mobilising resources for individual farmers and this is not part of this Government funding.
“The Government fund will be disbursed in material input from the GMB straight to the individual farmers. Farmers unions should not involve themselves in this. Farmers should approach GMB for the inputs that will cost US$15 for a 50kg bag of either ammonium nitrate or compound D fertilisers. The price of wheat seed is 50 US cents per kilogramme,” said Minister Made.
He said GMB would set limits according to individual farmers’ production and delivery records.
The inputs are for A1, A2, communal, small-scale and old resettlement farmers.
“For the A2 farmers, beneficiaries should have functional irrigation facilities and they will be served on a first-come first-serve basis after the GMB has checked their land and irrigation systems,” said Minister Made.
Some farmers have already started planting wheat.
Zimbabwe has the potential to produce 75 000 hectares of winter crops but Minister Made indicated that it would be good if 45 000ha were cultivated.
Electricity availability remains the biggest challenge to successful winter wheat production and Zesa has assured farmers that the power utility will supply them regularly for irrigation purposes.
Zimbabwe needs between 350 000 and 400 000 tonnes of wheat per year.