Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Farming Reporter
ABOUT 20 000 hectares of winter wheat has been cropped under the National Wheat Contract Farming aimed at improving production of the cereal in the country.
In an interview with Sunday News Business after a joint retailers-wholesalers meeting in Bulawayo last Thursday National Wheat Contract Farming Committee (NWCFC) chairperson Mr Tafadzwa Musarara said about 20 000 hectares of wheat had been put under the contract farming initiative targeted at producing 150 000 tonnes of wheat this season.
“Currently we have put close to 20 000 hectares of wheat but the challenges that we have are due to drought, our source of energy, which is Kariba (Dam) is low therefore the power generation is poor thus electricity load shedding is affecting us badly secondly our sources of water, which are dams have low levels and diesel shortage has been factored as well in the sense that we have been slow in harvesting maize so that we can plant the wheat,” he said.
NWCFC is a technical committee to lead the winter wheat contract farming for the next three years.
The NWCFC appointment is a private sector response to Finance and Economic Development’s Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube’s sentiments in the 2019 national budget statement where he called upon the private sector to be proactive and conduct contract farming activities to complement Government agriculture support interventions.
NWCFC comprises seasoned agriculture sector specialists that include Messers Walter Chigodora (SeedCo), Bruce Mawere (Export Trading Group), Roopak Bandra Holland ( Holbud Limited), Brendan Smyth (Origen), Keith Bell (Agro Chemicals Association), Adrian Carbutt (Rift Valley), Prosper Chiyanike (Metbank Limited), Johnson Mahanya (Ecobank), Exodus Donzvambeva (Wintertons), Andy Pascoe (Commercial Farmers Union), Shadreck Makombe (Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union) and Tapiwa Mashingaidze (Fertilisers Manufacturers Association).
Mr Musarara who is also the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe president said the association was working on an importation programme aimed at averting the imminent shortage of wheat in the country.
“We have been receiving lesser wheat since Independence so as many other African countries. We are working on an importation programme to bring as much wheat as possible from other countries mainly Russia and Germany.
“The country will remain food secure from that perspective we have forward purchased the product and we have faced the same usual problems of foreign currency but we are grateful that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been prioritising us,” he said.
The country is spending close to $100 million in wheat imports annually to cater for this deficit.
This year’s wheat output is projected to reach about 100 000 tonnes from the 20 000 tonnes recorded in the previous season.
@DNsingo