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Elita Chikwati Agriculture Reporter
Cabinet has resolved that the winter wheat producer price will remain at US$466 per tonne for this season as a way of balancing between production costs and affordability by consumers.
Announcing the producer price at his Ngungunyana offices in Harare yesterday, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made said  Cabinet noted that wheat farmers needed to be capacitated. Cabinet resolved that the wheat producer price be maintained at US$466 per tonne to balance the relationship between the farmers’ high cost of production and the plight of the consumer,” he said.

Dr Made said the major challenges affecting wheat farmers were high cost of fertilisers, water and electricity.
“The best way to address the plight of the farmer is to interrogate the cost of production,” he said. “It does not matter which crop, but the Agricultural Marketing Authority should interrogate the causes behind the high costs of farming inputs,” he said.

“AMA should find out the exact elements that are causing the price of inputs to be high.”
Dr Made said Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa had promised to avail funds to pay farmers delivering their grain to the Grain Marketing Board.“Treasury has promised to provide resources to settle outstanding payments of wheat,” he said. “Farmers have already started delivering to the GMB.”

Dr Made said not much wheat was produced this season because farmers faced a number of operational challenges.
GMB general manager Mr Albert Mandizha said only 2 000 tonnes of wheat had been delivered since harvesting started in October.