By Darlington Mutsvairi
Government has indicated a cumulative total of 44 399 hectares planted for both government and private sector sponsored winter wheat, resulting in almost 50 percent in deficit from the initially projected 90 000 hectares, official statistics released by the Lands and Agriculture ministry reveal.
However, government notes that despite missing the set targets, the area planted this season is almost double that of the previous season which was approximately 24 000 hectares.
The major reason for not meeting the set target was attributed to the failure by some of the farmers who had been registered to plant the crop as expected.
In a report, the Lands and Agriculture ministry however expressed satisfaction at the current state of the crop. “Most of the crop is between the booting and soft dough stages and the crop condition is fair to good across all provinces,” states the report.
The government had set itself a target to sponsor 65 000 hectares through its Command Agriculture program but only managed to cover 36 165 hectares while 8 256 hectares was done by players in the private sector.
