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Dr Made

Elita Chikwati Senior Reporter

Government has acquired 800 000 vouchers to be used to collect agricultural inputs under the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme that it started distributing to provinces on Tuesday.The custodian of the vouchers will be the social services department.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira said officials from her ministry had amet with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, and agreed on distribution modalities of the inputs that would be targeting vulnerable households.

“Government has already acquired 800 000 vouchers for this programme, which will be distributed to the provinces today (Tuesday).

“Ministers of State and their teams are urged to work closely together with the local leadership, including Members of Parliament, chiefs and councillors to ensure proper targeting of the coupons to the vulnerable households who are in the drought relief registers.

“Food distribution programme has progressed well, and it is hoped that the same commitment and coordination will prevail in the agricultural inputs scheme,” she said.

She said the inputs should be distributed to every vulnerable person without discrimination.

“The inputs are going to be stored at the Grain Marketing Board depots and will be released upon request following the usual release procedures at the GMB.

She said the social services department would handle the distribution of inputs, while Agritex would provide technical advice to farmers on the correct varieties of seed and application of fertilisers to be distributed.

“The two departments will work together to ensure the inputs are orderly, systematically and transparently distributed to ward collection points.

“It is important to understand that the agricultural inputs scheme is intended to empower the vulnerable households to produce their own food, and ensure household food security,” she said.

Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made, said farmers who benefited under the More Food for Africa Brazilian programme were also benefiting from the Presidential Inputs Scheme.

He said these farmers would each receive three 50 kilogramme bags of Compound D and Ammonium Nitrate as they were under irrigation.

On cotton inputs, Minister Made said this year farmers would get inputs of a hectare up from a quarter hectare last season.

“Cotton is important in terms of edible oil and cotton cake for livestock feeds. The crop is also vital in value chain and creation of employment,” he said.

He also raised concern that some farmers were experiencing challenges on tillage as their cattle had succumbed to the El Nino-induced drought.Minister Made said the Presidential Inputs Scheme would also include livestock in its comprehensive form.

“Southern parts of Manicaland and Matabeleland had their cattle killed by the drought, and there should be assistance to ensure recovery.

Minister Made said some GMB depots would have inputs for both the command agriculture, and the Presidential Inputs Scheme.

“Not every GMB depot will have inputs for command agriculture, but all GMB depots will have Presidential Inputs,” he said.

The Presidential Inputs Scheme is targeting 800 000 farmers and 400 000 cotton growers in communal areas.The programme has to date been funded to the tune of $30 million for the purchase of the inputs.