Govt intensifies inputs distribution

THERE will be no Christmas holiday for all Government departments that deal with inputs distribution, as the authorities push for the winding up of the programme to start serious production.

Nearly 1,6 million farmers under Presidential Inputs Scheme have received all inputs, with Command Agriculture Scheme farmers still getting their inputs during this festive season.

Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister Davison Marapira said inputs distribution was expected to end in the next two weeks to concentrate on production

“Our offices for Command Agriculture and Presidential Inputs will be open throughout the holiday,” he said. “It will be business as usual at all our Grain Marketing Board depots throughout the Christmas and New Year holiday.

“We kindly ask all our suppliers to leave some of their workers to make sure that all our farmers will access necessary requirements during the holiday.”

Most farmers have received their presidential inputs, including seed and chemicals.

Command Agriculture inputs distribution is now proceeding well, with the Government expecting to wind up the process to concentrate on production.

Deputy Minister Marapira said: “What l can tell you is that 85 percent of the presidential inputs have been distributed. We are working flat out on Command Agriculture. Of late, fertiliser and chemical companies got a big support from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in terms of foreign currency.

“This has seen a very big change in positive movement of inputs in Command Agriculture and seed distribution in Command Agriculture is almost 100 percent.

“We encourage farmers to take advantage of the current rains to plant maize and soyabeans and those without irrigation should focus on medium to short season varieties, as we are almost into the mid-season for 2017/ 2018. Those with irrigation can still plant medium to long season varieties.”

Deputy Minister Marapira said farmers registered for Command Agriculture could approach departments of Mechanization and Irrigation Development for tillage assistance and repairs of equipment.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president, Mr Wonder Chabikwa said: “We commend the Government for timely paying the farmers, but there is still a lot of work to be done as far as distribution of inputs is concerned, especially the Command inputs, as some farmers under the programme are still to get basal fertiliser let alone top dressing fertiliser.

“We hope the authorities will move fast to help farmers to get inputs so that they have time to plant as we are already into mid-season.

“We urge them to plant very short varieties in order to get maximum yield and move along with the season, which had already started a month ago.”

Government has set aside $154 million for the Presidential Input Support Scheme to cater for 1,8 million communal households across the country.

Under the scheme, each household got 10kg of maize seed, 50kg of basal fertiliser (Compound D) and 50kg of top dressing (Ammonium Nitrate).

Cotton and soyabeans were also included under the Presidential Inputs Support Scheme.

Meanwhile, under the Specialised Import Substitution Programme known as the Command Agriculture Scheme, Government has set aside around $270 million under the programme, with around 120 000 people expected to benefit from import substitute programmes.

This is in pursuit of the objectives of the food nutrition and security cluster espoused in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) and the 10-point plan.

More so, Treasury moves to pay a cumulative amount of $840,45 million before year end to all farmers who delivered grain to the Grain Marketing Board to ensure that they can buy inputs from their own funds.

Government has so far paid $600 million to farmers who delivered 1,6 million tonnes of maize to the GMB.

Treasury has upped its weekly disbursements to GMB to about $40 million for farmers to boost their planning in the current summer cropping season.

Government expects maize production to be around 2,2 million tonnes in 2017/2018 season and 2,5 million and 2,55 million in 2019 and 2020 respectively.