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Ms Sabina Nyahuye laughs in appreciation after receiving fertiliser and seed from the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Mr Ringson Chitsiko in Harare yesterday. — (Picture by John Manzongo)

Elita Chikwati and Brenda Ziga
Government is working to increase wheat production to 200 000 tonnes to reduce imports and save money for development projects, a senior official has said.

Secretary for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Mr Ringson Chitsiko said this yesterday at the ongoing four-day Support to Agricultural Research for Development of Strategic Crops (SARD-SC) wheat annual review and planning meeting which is being attended by members from eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agronomists, wheat breeders, researchers, agriculture economists and wheat farmers from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Zambia, Tunisia, Lesotho, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria are attending the meeting.

Mr Chitsiko urged stakeholders in the wheat value chain to work together and increase wheat productivity.

“Government is putting effort to turn the fortunes of the wheat sub-sector targeting about 200 000 tonnes as one of the Food Security and Nutrition Cluster outputs of the Zim Asset.

Wheat in Zimbabwe has been declining from high levels such as 248 888 tonnes of 2004 to current low levels of about 62 000 tonnes.

“The current five-year average is around 49 000 tonnes when Zimbabweans require at least 365 000 tonnes annually.

“My ministry will provide the necessary policy support to contribute to sustainable growth of the wheat sub-sector,” he said.

SARD-SC, with support from the African Development Bank, is assisting farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to improve wheat yields and ensure food security.

In Zimbabwe the projects are being carried out in Wedza.

Mr Chitsiko said this would ensure sustainable dissemination and adoption of wheat-based systems, agricultural knowledge and technologies along the value chain.

“The area under wheat by the participating farmers has increased by 115 percent from the 2013 figure.

Use of improved varieties as opposed to use of retained seed has generally increased by 27 percent among men, 15 percent among women and 87 percent among youths.

“General crop management practices and yield levels within the participating districts such as Wedza literally increased from 2013 by 20 percent,” he said.

He urged stakeholders in the public and private sectors along the wheat value chain to ensure sustainable up scaling of the initiative across the provinces in participating countries.

He said wheat was an important crop for Zimbabwe with tremendous potential for employment creation and generation of foreign currency, and challenges partner countries to join in.

“Take advantage of the footing set by this project to partner with local farmers for the realisation of profits and growth of the economy,” he said.

He said research and development together with dedicated extension support systems for the wheat sub-sector were important strategies the ministry would support to realise every grain of the main objective of the project.

“Deliberations from the workshop are every important in guiding the finalisation and implementation of the SARD-SC wheat project,” he said. “Government through my ministry is determined to assist such noble interventions.

“The timing of the intervention is therefore important since it is in synch with all our development initiatives and support to our rural and farming communities.

The guiding national policy emphasises on value addition which I hope will be taken on board as some of the quick wins, together with market access which remains a thorny issue for our farmers.

“I hope the new plan will create synergies that will improve livelihoods for our rural women farmers and youth,” he said.

Beneficiaries of the SARD-SC wheat project said they had improved yields since 2013.

Wedza farmer, Mrs Linda Makumbe, said she had gained skills on wheat production and increased yields from three tonnes per hectare to seven tonnes.

“We realised wheat is viable if yields are high. We used to rely on retained seed but now we have switched to improved varieties.

We make bread, biscuits and scones from the wheat and this has also increased our income,” she said.