Wheat in booming state as power supplies stabilise

Esther Tom

GOVERNMENT’S move to ring-fence wheat growing clusters from punishing load-shedding schedules and its upscaling of power generation at Hwange thermal station and Kariba Dam has given birth to a booming wheat crop whose early planted batch has since reached booting stage.

This has left farmers and their representative organisations lavishly showering the Government with praises for its commitment to even the playing field for farmers to produce enough wheat to achieve self-sufficiency and surplus for exports, as the country moves to achieve an upper middle income economy by 2030. The country is targeting a record 420 000 tonnes this year to eclipse last season’s 380 000 tonnes that was enough to satiate local demand even way into the next harvest.

In a telephone interview, Zimbabwe National Farmers Union (ZNFU) president, Mrs Monica Chinamasa yesterday expressed gratitude for the reliable electricity supply, which has significantly contributed to the success of wheat production that will ultimately benefit farmers and the nation as a whole.

“Our crop is in a very good condition and we are grateful for the uninterrupted electricity supplies,” said Mrs Chinamasa.

The positive impact of the reliable electricity and water supplies on wheat production is evident through Mrs Chinamasa’s decision to increase her hectarage from last season 120 to 160ha this time around, demonstrating the significance of consistent access to essential resources. 

In addition to acknowledging the reliable electricity supplies, Mrs Chinamasa also revealed that she owed it to the closeness of her water source to the farmer while the inputs she received from her contractors had also contributed to the current exciting state of her wheat crop.

“I got all the inputs I needed from contractors while the dam near my farm has sufficient water to nourish the crop, hence its state is good,” she said.

Chief agronomist with Agritex, Ms Rutendo Nhongonhema also explained that most of the early planted wheat was at the booting stage and was doing well and as such farmers should focus on nutrition and irrigation management to achieve greater yields.

“The wheat is doing well and we are encouraging farmers to priorities nutrition and irrigation management,” she said.

She also commended the consistent availability of electricity to farmers, which ensured a reliable source of power for their agricultural needs before adding that WhatsApp groups to monitor power cuts were as useful in monitoring faults thereby promoting wheat production.

“This time electricity is good, we also have a WhatsApp group to announce electricity challenges so that outages are  quickly attended to,” said Ms Nhongonhema.

She also urged farmers to put in place measures to protect their wheat against quelea birds, saying they had the capacity to ruin everything the farmers toiled for.