Online Reporter
Patience Maturure
GOVERNMENT is confident the country will meet its winter wheat planting target of 120 000 hectares.
This comes as the planting deadline has been extended from June 5 to June 15 to accommodate farmers who had late summer crops that are still being harvested.
So far, farmers have put 85 017 hectares under wheat.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary, Professor Obert Jiri, said the wheat planting deadline had been extended to June 15 to encourage more farmers to plant and meet the country’s target of 120 000 hectares.
“So far farmer have planted 85 017 hectares as at end of May, and this is what we could count. We know that it’s slightly more than that. This, remember, three years ago was the target,” he said.
Prof Jiri said farmers recognised the importance of becoming self-sufficient in wheat and flour.
“We know certainly that farmers have been hit by these cool conditions, which have delayed the drying of maize in the field. So we are seeing a lot of maize still in the fields owing to high moisture content, it cannot be harvested as yet. We want those farmers to be given the opportunity to plant also. We know the challenges that have been there,” commented Prof Jiri.
He said it was important to accord all farmers the chance to plant wheat.
Prof Jiri said from an agronomic perspective, yields would, however, decline with late planting.
“Cool conditions that have persisted nationwide over the past month are, nonetheless, ideal for wheat planting.
“We have considered all these and our need as a country to be self-sufficient. As we look forward, we cannot continue to import wheat and flour.
“We want our farmers to make their mark in terms of contributing to this patriotic endeavour of growing wheat. So we have considered that. The remaining 35 000 hectares targeted can still be planted,” he said.
Murewa South legislator Noah Mangondo, who is also a wheat farmer, said preparations for winter wheat planting had been effective so far with the Government fulfilling its role together with the private players.
“Farmers have successfully utilised available resources to meet the goals. Compared to last year, I have made significant progress — nearly doubling the area from 56 hectares to 106 hectares.
“There is motivation, which the Government has given to farmers to continue growing wheat. In terms of production of wheat, I think Zimbabwe is doing very well.
“And I would like to urge our farmers, my fellow farmers, to continue planting, as has been advised by the experts, to continue planting until the 15th. There are so many ways that you can try and overcome the shortened period due to late planting. So the message really to my fellow farmers is let’s keep on planting until the 15th,” he said.
Zimbabwe has been a net importer of wheat prompting Government to come up with a programme to encourage wheat production on all farms with reliable water sources.
This has seen the country becoming self-sufficient in recent years.
