Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
FARMERS have been called on to expedite wheat harvesting to ensure that when the impending rains start they will have finished.
Rains of varying degrees can damage wheat that is ready for harvest or has been harvested but not brought under shelter.
In a recent interview with, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri said winter wheat harvesting had started in earnest though still slow.
“As of Thursday (last week), we had just harvested just over 1 700 hectares of winter wheat across the country and this is the early planted wheat which was planted at the end of April and beginning of May, so that is the one being harvested now,” he said.
“This is at an average yield of 5,5 tonnes per hectare so what has been harvested is slightly over 8 000 metric tonnes. We have seen deliveries to GMB also increasing as of Thursday (last week) they were on 1 300 to 1 400 and still increasing.”
He encouraged farmers to keep harvesting and expedite their progress while organising combine harvesters so that once their moisture is correct in their field, harvesting can start immediately and deliveries made to off-takers.
Prof Jiri said those who grew wheat under the Presidential Input Scheme must deliver to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) as well as those who grew under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) joint ventures.
“The rest of the farmers must deliver to their contractors as they have that obligation. Farmers who were self-contracted should also consider other marketing options so there is the Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX) platform which is critical in price discovery and also acts as a major option for marketing for farmers, he added.
“The ZMX platform is there and the GMB is also available in terms of warehousing so once they deliver they discover their price and they can sell through ZMX platform. Farmers can always use warehousing facilities and anybody can use warehousing facilities at GMB.”
The Permanent Secretary said the warehouse receipt was critical because farmers could also use it as collateral in case they want to approach a financier for anything.
Launched in 2021, ZMX is an agricultural commodities trading platform with automated electronic warehousing and receipting capabilities.
It is operated by the Financial Securities Exchange and was founded as a joint venture between the Financial Securities Exchange (FINSEC) and the TSL Limited representing the private sector and the Government of Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter