Zim to harvest over one million tonnes of maize

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Zim to harvest over one million tonnes of maize

Zim to harvest over one million tonnes of maize
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 3:44:55 PM

ZIMBABWE this year expects to reap 1.24 million metric tonnes of maize but this will only be sufficient to cater for 68 per cent of cereal needs, according to government figures. The country needs about 2.2 million metric tonnes of summer cereals.

According to the just-released Second Round Crop and Livestock Assessment Report produced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation, the combined maize, sorghum and millet production for 2008/09 is estimated at 1.51 million metric tonnes and this translates into a cereal production deficit of about 690,000 metric tonnes.

This year's anticipated production is more than twice higher than last year's harvest of less than 500,000 tonnes, which plunged the country into severe food insecurity requiring over seven million people to depend on food aid.

In the report, the 2008/09 maize production is estimated at 1,242,571 metric tonnes from a planted area of 1,521,780 hectares giving an average yield of 0.8 tonnes per hectare.

Compared to average maize production in the past five years, the 2008/09 maize production is about 13 per cent higher.

The report said the 2007/08 season had the lowest national average maize yield since 1980 of 0.3 tonnes per hectare.

The government attributed last year's poor harvest to a severe lack of faming inputs such as seed and fertiliser, along with poor rains in most parts of the country.

"The largest proportion of the maize harvest is expected to come from Mashonaland West [20 per cent] followed by Midlands [16 per cent]. While the high production of maize in Mashonaland West is due to both relatively high planted areas and average provincial yields, Midlands Province's production is coming from mainly large hectarages under maize," the report states.

It states that communal areas are expected to produce the highest share with about 41 per cent of the national maize production, up from 28 per cent last season.

Small-scale farmers are expected to produce 22 per cent while contributions of medium and large-scale commercial farmers have dropped from last year, the report states.

Total small grain production is estimated at about 270,000 metric tonnes.

The yield is about 190 per cent higher than the output recorded last year and is 110 per cent higher than the average production of the past five seasons.

Sorghum, finger and pearl millet production for 2008/09 is expected to be 181,448 metric tonnes, 37,162 metric tonnes and 50,938 metric tonnes, respectively.

There was also an increase in the area put under minor crops such as sweet potatoes, which increased by 11 per cent from 61,311 hectares to 69,344 hectares with a projected total production of 298,947 tonnes.

The land under upland rice increased by 30 per cent from 3,891 hectares to 5,077 hectares, with an expected yield of 3,046 metric tonnes.

Labels: MAIZE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE MECHANISATION AND IRRIGATION (ZIMBABWE), ZIMBABWE