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servants will get seed, fertilisers and chemicals and pay for the inputs over four to six months.
ZFU executive director Mr Paul Zakariya yesterday said the scheme was meant to cushion farmers from high input costs.
He raised concern over the non-availability of affordable inputs, which he said was affecting the agriculture industry.
“One major challenge is the high production costs which are prohibitive and make farming unviable.
“We have realised there is no input support coming from anywhere and this is an effort to ensure production in the agriculture industry,” he said.
Mr Zakariya said the inputs will be affordable and ZFU had negotiated with some input suppliers for discounts.
Some seed companies in the scheme are selling their commodities at wholesale prices making it more affordable to farmers.
“We are advocating for subsidies effected at the manufacturer of the inputs so that the final product has a uniform affordable price,” he said.
Mr Zakariya said while subsidised input programmes were noble they resulted in price disparities as not all farmers benefited from the schemes.
ZFU had a similar scheme last year but had recovery challenges.
“Last year the scheme catered for communal and small-scale farmers but some communal farmers failed to pay back,” he said.
Mr Zakariya said this time ZFU was linking the scheme to known income personnel.
A number of civil servants have started benefiting from the scheme while others are still processing their applications.
“Vetting is done by the Public Service Association. PSA will consider the capacity of the employee to pay for the inputs,” he said.
The scheme is expected to extend to other salaried personnel in different departments.
Mr Zakariya said the situation could be better if the promised Government’s US$45 million subsidised inputs are made available on time so that everyone could have the chance to buy cheap inputs.
To produce a hectare of maize this season, a farmer requires a minimum of US$510 and most farmers do not have the cash to finance their cropping programmes.
The situation has been made worse by the Grain Marketing Board which can only pay farmers after receiving money from the Treasury.
A number of farmers who delivered their grain to GMB are yet to get their money, a situation that has affected preparations for the forthcoming season.
Online Reporter