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Victor Maphosa Correspondent
Minister of State for Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs Cde Apollonia Munzverengi has applauded President Mnangagwa for ensuring the timely distribution of inputs under the Presidential Inputs Scheme.
She said the scheme will cushion farmers against high prices, among other challenges.

She made the remarks during the distribution of Presidential Inputs at Chard Business Centre in Hwedza on Tuesday.
“I would like to take this opportunity to applaud the President for coming up with the Presidential Input Programme as this has cushioned a lot of farmers from the problem of high inputs costs.

“It is well-known that a hungry nation is an angry nation, let us now combine our efforts to implement food deficit exit strategies, so I call upon more players to take the lead in producing more food and provide opportunities for people to earn more food and incomes,” she said.

She said the Government is mandated to secure food for everyone regardless of their status.
“It is Government’s desire to ensure that even the poorest of the poor is food secure, we need to collectively address major gaps in agricultural technologies, research, input supply and marketing and properly manage our resource base.

“It is the poverty that we strive to combat by devising new strategies for sustaining food and livelihood security and the Presidential inputs success story has left me with no doubt that Zimbabwe is re-emerging as the bread basket of Southern Africa,” she said.

Cde Munzverengi urged beneficiaries of the scheme to increase productivity.
“We however need to focus on output growth and increase productivity by, proper implementation of Government food production programmes, intensifying the use of both organic and chemical fertilisers and increasing use of agro-chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides.

“We need also to increase the use of irrigation systems and intensify technical and advisory services on upcoming agricultural technologies,” she said.

She said Government will continue to assist farmers with agricultural inputs.
“Our President is well aware of the need to rehabilitate, build and modernise irrigation infrastructure and to establish loan facilities to ensure access to machinery at low costs.

“We will continue to fight hard to make all farmers access tillage services at affordable cost and also to resuscitate tillage loan schemes. I urge all of you here to take heed of agricultural advisory services to achieve high production,” she said.