Duty-free fertilisers to boost horticulture

FARMERS have assured Government that they are prepared to produce sufficient horticultural products while taking advantage of the scrapping of import duty on fertilisers.

Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made last week said Government would not renew import licences for horticultural imports.

Minister Made challenged farmers to take up the opportunity and start producing quality products.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union executive director Mr Paul Zakariya said the scrapping of duty on fertilisers had given them an advantage towards producing competitive products.

He urged Government to consider removing duty on all agricultural inputs as a measure to boost production capacity.

“As a producer organisation, the news of stopping the importation of horticultural products came at the right time,” he said. “We have been failing to compete with cheap horticultural imports, which were coming from countries that have relatively cheap inputs.

“There is relatively no reason as to why we cannot because every advantage is pointing to our favour.”

Mr Zakariya said farmers would take advantage of the reduced cost of production.

“Surely, there is no reason for us failing to feed the nation,” he said.

“Government has even scrapped duty on the importation of fertilisers and we anticipate to see price reductions.

“Farming inputs have been so expensive for us to be competitive, hence we are calling for Government to consider scrapping duty on all agricultural inputs.”

Mr Zakariya challenged fellow farmers to improve on their production capacity to meet customer expectations.

He said the farmers had a duty to produce while focusing on quality to satisfy the needs of consumers.