By Darlington Mutsvairi
Government ’s plan to rapidly boost wheat production intends to promote self-sufficiency while it also has the potential to avoid importation of the cereal as the country projects a yield in excess of 415 000 metric tonnes against Zimbabwe’s annual demand of approximately 400 000 metric tonnes, projected statistics from the Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement ministry have revealed.
Approximately 90 000 hectares had been identified under the winter wheat special programme which has seen Government commit itself to fund production on 65 000 hectares, while the remainder will be supported by the private sector.
This is against last winter wheat season which saw only about 24 000 hectares being put under the cereal where the production was less than 100 000 tonnes which resulted in both Government and the private millers resorting to imports to meet national demand.
In May this year, at the onset of the winter season, Lands and Agriculture deputy minister, Honourable Douglas Karoro corroborated the fact that wheat this year was envisaged to enable self-sufficiency.
“The country has set a target of 80 000 hectares to be put under wheat this year, out of this we are expecting plus or minus 415 000 tonnes of wheat that will go a long way in making the country avoid importing wheat,” he said.
“The 415 000 tonnes will suffice and properly serve the nation for a year and remove the need for importation of wheat. That is our main goal—to be self-sufficient in terms of wheat in relation to financing, we have Command (Smart) Agriculture in place to support the farmers with inputs such as fuel, fertilisers, seed, chemicals and everything else that goes with farming. We also have support from private sector players,” honourable Karoro added.
Estimate statistics per province according to an official schedule produced by the ministry
| Province | Hectares | Expected yield (tonnes) |
|---|---|---|
| Mashonaland West | 35 000 | 182 000 |
| Mashonaland Central | 18 000 | 93 600 |
| Matabeleland North & South | 9 000 | 12 400 |
| Mashonaland East | 12 000 | 62 400 |
| Manicaland | 7 000 | 36 400 |
| Midlands | 4 500 | 23 400 |
| Masvingo | 800 | 4 160 |
| TOTAL | 86 300 | 414 360 |
Despite the ministry still to avail the actual official figures so far planted countrywide, one Agritex Extension Officer in Mashonaland West Province has confirmed off the record that the current season is way far better than the previous one and is optimistic that these targets will be met.
“I am very much confident that this season is going to be a turning point for wheat production because we have managed to surpass what we did last year and the crop is healthier than that of the past season,” she said. For the most part of the past two decades, the country imported between 70 and 75 percent of wheat to meet its requirements but the current state of the crop could see importation of wheat as a thing of the past.
Farmers have also expressed optimism that yield is likely going to double owing to the constant supply of electricity which is a crucial input in wheat production.
Banket farmer, Mr Michael Mutasa (Jnr) in a recent interview with this publication said he was happy with his crop thus far. “The crop is healthy and we are expecting to double our output from previous seasons because we had electricity throughout the season and we have managed to irrigate the crop with enough water as recommended by experts,” he said.
Mutasa however did not rule out challenges that are likely to be faced citing for example the low levels of water from their source (Mazvikadei Dam) as a factor that resulted in them being forced to reduce their targeted 600 hectares down to 500 this season..
“Even though we are getting some water from Mazvikadei dam, we did not want to strain the water source because there are many farmers who rely on the same source and the water levels have gone down all because there was normal to below normal rains during the past season,” he further explained.
As much as the farmer has the capacity in terms of farming implements and resources, he considered others who utilise the same source of water striking a balance between utilising the precious resource in farming and environmental preservation.
