The Sunday News
FARMERS in Matabeleland North are yet to receive the farming inputs being distributed under the Presidential Agricultural Inputs Scheme, despite the farming season being already under way, Sunday Business has learnt.
Some parts of the country have reportedly started receiving the $200 million worth of inputs under the Presidential Agricultural Inputs Scheme.
The scheme is targeted to benefit 1,6 million households across the country this farming season and covers inputs such as maize, cotton and wheat and is being disbursed at Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots countrywide.
In an interview last week, Hwange’s Ward 1 councillor, Clr Elias Muzamba, said farmers in his area were being forced to use untreated seeds from the granaries after failing to secure proper seeds.
“The farming season has just started and farmers in my rural area have not yet received the farming inputs under the Government scheme. Some are taking the same grain from their last year’s harvest but unfortunately that seed is not treated and produces poor yields,” said Clr Muzamba.
He said farmers in the area could not manage to buy inputs due to financial constraints.
“The treated seeds are too expensive for them. The cheapest maize seed on the market is 5kg which costs approximately $14 while 10kg and 25kg are going for $20 and $65 respectively,” he said.
Clr Muzamba added that a 50kg bag of compound D fertilisers was going for $31 and 50kg top dressing fertilizer $36.
Another farmer, Mrs Lungile Siwela from Victoria Falls, echoed the same sentiments and said they were patiently waiting for government inputs.
“We are still waiting for the presidential inputs scheme which we have been told we will receive any time from now. If we fail to get it, it would spell disaster for many farmers here,” said Mrs Siwela.
The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) vice-president, Mr Abdul Nyathi, challenged the GMB to speed up the payment of farmers for their maize so that they could use the money to buy the required inputs.
“This is the time for GMB to pay farmers early so that they get the money for purchasing inputs. Banks are not willing to give farmers loans and the Government has no money hence GMB must play its part,” said Mr Nyathi.
Under the Presidential Agricultural Inputs scheme, each household receives 50kg of compound D fertiliser, 50kg of ammonium nitrate and 10kg seed maize.
The package also includes 5kg of cotton and wheat seed as well as 2kg of soya beans.
Beneficiaries of the facility are mainly communal, small-scale, A1 and resettled farmers.
In the past, the initiative targeted maize producers but this year it has been extended to about 350 000 cotton growers facing production and marketing constraints.
Government confirmed that distribution of inputs had already commenced and would continue as the season progressed.
