(HERALD) Paprika production falls
Paprika production fallsAgriculture Reporter
LACK of financial back up has forced some farmers to abandon paprika production for other cash crops.
Paprika used to be produced under contract system but now most of the financiers have shifted to other horticultural crops that give high returns within a short period.
Paprika is a long-term crop just like maize and takes long before the profits are realised.
Agritex officer Mr Annanias Bare said production costs for paprika were very high while the crop did not have a competitive market.
"The problem is that paprika has a more centralised market like tobacco and this has an impact on the prices being offered by buyers. Poor prices will obviously discourage production of the crop," Mr Bare said.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union director Mr Paul Zakariya said economic hardships resulted in some companies diversifying from sponsoring long season crops to short season varieties.
"Nowadays most contractors are into horticultural production supporting production of crops such as fine beans, broccoli, peas and other highly paying crops, " he said.
Paprika requires much attention just like tobacco and requires intensive pests and disease control and this requires a high working capital.
This season, 9 700ha have been targeted for paprika production but only 29ha have so far been planted against 2 460ha of paprika that were planted over the same period last year.
The drop in production has been attributed to high costs of production and poor prices on the market.
On the other hand, some tomato producers are complaining of poor prices on the traditional markets.
Most tomato producers said they were selling their produce at US$1 for four boxes and sometimes return with their tomatoes to the farms. Agritex, however, advises farmers to carry out a market research before production to avoid situations whereby produce flood the market and prices fall resulting in farmers incurring huge losses.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, CHILI PEPPERS
posted by MrK @ 6:39 PM
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