HARARE - New farmers under the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZFCU) have set an ambitious 30 000 hectares winter wheat target, despite the fact that it will not meet national demand. (Pictured: Zimbabwes wheat production has not met the demands of the country
The new farmers have obtained assurances from seed providers and also the country power utility ZESA that this year winter cropping will have enough seed and limited power outages. The farmers have a ready market in form of the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ). “GMAZ and the ZCFU came together and agreed to set the target for the private sector initiative at 30 000, hectares for the 2011 winter wheat season,” said ZCFU.
Presently the country is faced with a bread shortage owing to high costs of importing the grain from Turkey and the inability of the so-called new farmers to produce adequately for the country’s needs. However, President Donald Khumalo said the new farmers were still learning the ropes and would soon be able to provide enough for the country especially if farmers lean on partners such as seed producers and buyers.
GMAZ Chairman Tafadzwa Musarara, said that since independence the country had never been able to produce enough wheat. The country has been importing wheat since the Rhodesian days. This coupled with increases in the urban population have led to increased demand. Wheat is slowly substituting maize as the staple diet in the country, said Musarara.
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