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| Ezra Chadzamira |
Perpetua Murungweni
MASVINGO – Over 10 000 farmers are set
to benefit from the Presidential Winter Wheat Input Scheme which is expected to
begin in May, the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution
has said.
Through
the programme, government will distribute wheat to farmers especially those
with irrigation facilities as well as those on wetlands.
“The
government is handing out wheat to those farmers in
irrigation schemes, those who are in communal gardens and also individuals who
have access to water. The idea is to increase our wheat output this year
because government is determined to reduce our wheat import bill while
empowering local farmers,” said Chadzamira.
He said
some 10 000 farmers in A1 and A2 plots are expected to benefit from the scheme
which would require farmers to deliver their grain to the Grain Marketing Board
after harvest.
“Over 10
000 farmers are expected to benefit from this winter wheat programme and we are
targeting capable farmers in A1 and A2 farms,” said Chadzamira.
Each
farmer is expected to receive 60kg of wheat crop per hectare of land they can
till depending with the size of the farm.
“Each
farmer is expected to receive 60kg of wheat per hectare depending on the size
of the farm each farmer has. The bigger the size of the farm each farmer has
the more wheat each farmer will get,” said Chadzamira.
Zimbabwe
has a serious wheat shortage as local farmers cannot satisfy demand the
domestic market.
Every
year, big confectioners have to import thousands of tonnes of wheat from such
countries as Brazil to plug the gap, costing the country millions of dollars in
foreign currency.
