Zimpapers Logo

Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter
Farmers have planted 8 000 hectares of wheat this winter season as production continues to decline due to a number of challenges affecting the farming sector.

In an interview on Friday, Zimbabwe Farmers Union executive director Mr Paul Zakariya said last season farmers planted around 11 000 hectares of wheat.

He said production was declining every season due to erratic power supplies, high water rates and unavailability of viable markets. Mr Zakariya said it did not make economic sense for farmers to continue growing the crop, which was associated with high production costs.

“The production costs are high. Sometimes electricity is not available when the crop requires irrigation. Some farmers have tried using generators but this increases costs of production,” he said, adding “The water charges from Zinwa are also high and farmers cannot afford them. Few traditional farmers are still growing the crop but not on commercial basis,” he said.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Mr Wonder Chabikwa said some farmers continued planting when the window period had already gone.

“We do not encourage farmers to plant wheat late as they will incur losses. Normally the late crop is affected by the early rains,” he said.