Mashonaland East surpasses winter wheat target

Andrew Muvishi Mashonaland East Correspondent

Mashonaland East province surpassed the Government target for wheat this season by over 1 000 hectares in response to the rising demand for the cereal crop.

In an interview, the provincial Agritex director, Mr Leonard Munamati said the province has surpassed the target which was set by Government.

“Government set a target of 11 340 ha for winter wheat in this province, but we have managed to plant 12 579 hectares. This is encouraging and promising.

“We also have some other private players who contribute to the winter wheat. The Presidential support schemes, AFC, CBZ and individuals also made significant contributions towards meeting the national demand,” said Mr Munamati.

He said the Government delivered inputs on time and nearly all farmers had their inputs by mid-May.

“We are happy that we received inputs on time. The condition of our wheat crop is good. Most farmers are on the stage of early booting, heading and anthesis, while early planted crops are now at grain filling,” he said.

However, Mr Munamati urged farmers to attend training sessions being facilitated by the Agritex department to improve their yield.

One of the A2 farmer in Marondera district Mr Bright Bvukumbwe said his wheat is now on anthesis stage but he bemoaned vandalism of power property on irrigation schemes which he said would impact on yields if not curbed.

“My wheat is in the flowering stage. However, we have serious challenges of people who vandalise electricity at the irrigation schemes and it becomes a burden to farmers.

“As a result, we have some irrigation schemes that are now not productive,” said Mr Bvukumbwe.

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