The Sunday Mail
Mrs Margaret Zvinavashe (right) in their wheat field and farm manager Blessing Mucharira at Knock Mallock farm recently
This season’s wheat hectarage will likely shrink from the 6 000 hectares put under the crop last year to less than half that. With the recommended planting deadline set for May 25, not many farmers would be willing to gamble by planting any time after this date although some extension officers say seed can be put in the ground until the end of June.
The fear among farmers to plant after May 25 is that they could lose out to crop damage from early summer rains. On the whole, power cuts, high water charges and the cost of inputs has discouraged farmers from planting wheat.
At the current producer price of US$466 per tonne from the Grain Marketing Board, and a liquidity crunch that discourages bank lending, it really is difficult to grow the crop. And both Government and private sector support for wheat has been dwindling over the years.
Much has been said of farmers, with some sections of society calling them cry-babies who expect handouts to sustain their operations. Others, however, point out that all businesses are struggling and farming is no exception.
Which raises the question as to whether or not it is still viable to grow wheat given that imported grain lands at a relatively cheaper price of US$360 per tonne.
Mrs Margaret Zvinavashe, widow of national hero General Vitalis Zvinavashe, is one farmer who has fought off the dark clouds and consistently puts in a good wheat crop at her Knock Mallock Farm, just outside the capital along the Harare-Bulawayo Highway.
“To all farmers out there who have water and functional irrigation facilities, I say aluta continua on wheat growing. Our President, Cde Robert Mugabe, knows exactly what we are going through.
“He is very aware that farmers are as good as soldiers who do not retreat nor surrender the battle.
“These are hard times for every farmer as there is no money to support the sector . . . It is not the GMB’s fault for failing to pay farmers but the challenges facing the economy,” said Mrs Zvinavashe.
She advised farmers to concentrate on small hectarages: “As a farmer, I cannot lie idle but have to make do with what is available. This is a passing phase.”
Mrs Zvinavashe says Government should revert to the 2000-2009 system in which farmers collected inputs from GMB depots on credit well before March in preparation of May planting. Farmers were expected to pay up on delivering wheat to the depots.
“This was a smooth way of assisting farmers and production was high on the farms as there were no complaints of lack of inputs, among other things. Power supply, again, was constant in all wheat-growing areas with little disruptions.
“This was an incentive to farmers as they did not have to scratch their heads as to how they were to get funds for inputs.”
She went on to say: “We hear there is fertiliser at GMB depots meant for wheat farmers but up to now distribution has not started on the basis that they are waiting for an instruction from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.”
GMB corporate communications manager Mrs Muriel Zemura confirms that there is fertiliser at their depots and refers further questions to the Agriculture Ministry.
Agriculture Deputy Minister (Crops) Davies Marapira says the fertiliser will soon be distributed, adding that Minister Dr Joseph Made is best-placed to give further details. Dr Made could not be reached for comment.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union president Mr Wonder Chabikwa said the country does not have a comparative advantage on wheat because elsewhere it is grown on rain-fed agriculture, which is cheaper than the local irrigated crop.
With electricity to farmers at around US9c per kilowatt-hour compared to US5c in other countries, Zimbabwe’s wheat becomes very expensive.
This is compounded by raw water charges of around US$12 per mega litre. As such, bakers prefer to import wheat and flour.
“Maybe the summer wheat should be researched more to see if it cannot be more competitive,’’ Mr Chabikwa suggests, adding:
“We continue using aluminium pipes and sprinklers which are easily stolen and are no longer being manufactured.”
Observers have also said more should be done to improve solar irrigation technologies as these can drastically cut production costs.
