Wheat harvesting at 33.5 percent

“Additionally, preparations are being made to ensure adequate combine harvesters are available to clear the irrigated maize crop quickly so that we have ample time to plant wheat.”

Elita Chikwati Senior Agriculture Reporter

Wheat farmers have harvested 33.5 percent of the crop planted during this winter cropping season as farmers intensify harvesting so they can switch to the summer season crops.

According to Agritex’s latest weekly update, by October 29, farmers had harvested 116 726 tonnes of the cereal.

The Agritex update shows that 22 277 hectares of wheat had been harvested by October 29.

This winter cropping season, 44 295 hectares of wheat were planted under the National Enhanced Agriculture Productivity Scheme (NEAPS), commonly known as Command Agriculture.

Of this, 14 657 hectares have been harvested giving an average yield of 5 tonnes per hectare. The hectarage harvested so far saw farmers getting 73 447 tonnes of wheat from the NEAPS programme.

Under the NEAPS, Mashonaland East had the highest average yield of 6, 8 tonnes per hectare while Mashonaland has recorded an average yield of 5, 8 tonnes per hectare.

For the Presidential wheat programme, farmers planted 5 477 37 hectares and of this 1 620 hectares have been harvested with the yield averaging 3, 5 tonnes per Hecate.

So far 5 693 tonnes of wheat have come from the Presidential Inputs Scheme.

The private sector supported a hectarage of 16 662 hectares and farmers have so far harvested 5 999 hectares. The average yield in the private sector is 6, 3 tonnes with Mashonaland East recording an average yield of 7, 7 tonnes per hectare while Mashonaland Central is at 6, 3 tonnes per hectare.

The Grain Marketing Board has revealed that the bulk of the wheat being delivered to its depots is of the premium grade.

GMB has designated 18 depots around the country as collection points for wheat. About 300 000 tonnes of wheat are expected from this year’s winter cropping season.