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Sharon Shayanewako
WITH the country expecting a bumper winter wheat harvest following the planting of a record 79 000ha of the cereal, the Government has reiterated its commitment to providing uninterrupted power supplies to wheat farmers and avoid compromising the projected high yields.
This comes in the wake of recent excessive load shedding that left many farmers fretting over the possibility of the crop failing to yield their projected tonnages.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development permanent secretary Dr John Basera told stakeholders attending a Presidential Winter Wheat Field Day at Craigengower Farm in Mazowe recently that his Ministry had met with that of Energy and Power Development to ensure a continuous supply of power to winter wheat farmers as the country pushes to achieve wheat self-sufficiency.
“We have formed a committee known as the Food and Energy Nexus Committee, which I lead together with the Ministry of Energy and Power Development permanent secretary Dr Gloria Magombo to make sure wheat farmers get uninterrupted power supply to support irrigation so that we get high yields.
“For the past week, we experienced a challenge of load shedding and we held a meeting to solve this issue. We see now there is quite an improvement on the issue of load shedding. Because it is now hot, prolonged irrigation is indeed essential,” he said.
Dr Basera added that the Government through the Ministry of Energy and Power Development was working hard to make sure wheat farmers got uninterrupted power supply.
“As we approach summer season, our wheat still needs to be irrigated to make sure the output we are targeting is indeed achieved.”
In an interview with the media, Craigengower Irrigation Scheme chairman Mr Silas Mubhemi said load shedding was a threat to winter wheat.
“As A1 farmers, we have been facing a challenge of load shedding in previous days. We were getting power supply twice a week, but now the situation has improved. We are now getting enough power supply to irrigate our wheat and as you can see, our wheat is in good condition”.
Meanwhile, the country is expecting to harvest 380 000 hectares of winter wheat this year, surpassing the annual requirement of 360 000 tonnes.
The Government has also dedicated funding towards the fight against quelea birds with the spraying of roosting areas underway.
Online Reporter