MUTARE Farmers in Manicaland have expressed grave concern over the governments late distribution of inputs and the acute shortages of Ammonium Nitrate (AN) fertilizer, saying it would affect the forthcoming cropping season.This came out at the Zimbabwe Farmers Union annual congress held here last Friday.
The farmers urged the government to distribute adequate inputs in time.
We are currently facing AN fertilizer shortages. To make matters worse, some shops that have the fertilizer are selling it through the black market albeit exorbitant prices. A 50kg of AN fertilizer is being sold between US$40 and US$50, a price beyond our reach, said Luke Humbasha, a farmer.
The government last year rolled out a subsidized agricultural scheme where various households obtained most of the inputs at US$7 for 50kgs of fertilizer and US$1 for 10kgs of seed.
The programme was mooted following the realization that the small-scale farmers in the communal and resettlement areas were failing to access the inputs.
Post published in: Economy