(HERALD) ‘Wheat cropping preps slow’

‘Wheat cropping preps slow’
By Elita Chikwati

LAND preparations for the 2009 wheat crop have started on a slow note across the country as farmers face the challenges of input availability. The preparations are behind schedule and farmers should be ready for planting.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Mr Wilson Nyabonda said farmers need to harvest their summer maize and soyabeans before they could start winter wheat land preparations.

"Usually farmers start planting wheat from mid- April to May 25 and the fact that some farmers have not started harvesting their summer crops does not mean land preparations will be delayed. There is a lot of idle land to be used for wheat production," said Mr Nyabonda.

He added that wheat growers were bound to have difficulties mobilising inputs since the prices were now pegged in foreign currency.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union Director, Mr Paul Zakariya said farmers were facing challenges on mechanisation and costs.

"We are coming from a background where resources are scarce and this will cause a reduction in hectarage.

"Farmers are having problems of procuring fuel since banks are not forthcoming with funding. Very little is coming from the banks and working capital is hard to come by," said Mr Zakariya.

He added that until farmers are willing to engage in contract farming, this season was going to be a difficult one.

Through the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, a policy change was announced which was expected to boost production capacity of the agricultural sector in the short to medium term. The main points of the policy included market based access to inputs.

Mr Zakariya urged farmers to be precise with timing as this had an effect on the total yields.

To achieve the national target of 100 000 tonnes for this year, the sector requires,

6 000 tonnes of seed, 30 000 tonnes each of both Ammonium Nitrate and compound D fertiliser, 24 000 tonnes of lime and between seven and eight million kilogrammes of fuel.

Recently, the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made said about 6 000 tonnes of seed had been acquired for the winter wheat programme.

As of last week, 17 000 tonnes of fertiliser were available and this was not enough for the winter season. Fertiliser is selling between US$700-US$800 a tonne.

The Government is however working on addressing the challenges and had agreed to import some of the requirements while assisting the local industry to produce more.