“Although wheat is not easy to grow, we cannot wholly depend on imports,” he said. Chabikwa said the pricing of electricity was not fair as it was burdening farmers. “Farmers are just treated like any other users yet they are producing food. At least they should be subsidised and given preference,” he said.
Goromonzi North Member of Parliament and farmer, Paddy Zhanda, said the cost of financing farming in this country was prohibitive.
“We cannot talk of alternative crops especially if the crops are irrigated. Even if farmers are to switch to potato production, the crop still needs to be irrigated and there is no way a farmer can fully irrigate the crop without electricity,” he said.
He challenged Government to come up with a clear agricultural policy that would make farming viable.
Zimbabwe National Farmers’ Union Secretary for Mazowe, Garikayi Msika, said wheat was a viable crop if produced properly and could yield up to five tonnes per hectare provided farmers could get correct inputs at the correct time and adequate irrigation.
Post published in: Agriculture