No more VAT on rice and potatoes in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean government recently approved the removal of value-added tax (VAT) on rice and potato seed after rice consumption in that country increased to 120 000t annually while potato consumption increased to 500 000t/year.

According to the Zimbabwe Mail, potato was classed as a strategic starch crop, although current food security assessments did not consider rice and potato as alternatives to maize and traditional grains.

Both potato seed and rice were previously rated for VAT, increasing the cost to consumers.

The Zimbabwean authorities were working on a rice policy to ensure selfsufficiency in rice production. According to the African Rice Centre, the Japanese New Rice for Africa (Nerica) varieties proved to be successful in Africa. Nerica has been developed through crossing African rice species that are resistant to disease and drought and the Asian rice species with its high yield potential.

In order to lay the groundwork for rice production, a Japanese Nerica expert visited Zimbabwe in 2023 to advise potential producers on what was needed for large-scale rice production.

The Nerica varieties were the first to be developed though crossing

Oryza sativa, known as Asian rice, and O. glaberrima, often called African rice, only found in Africa.

According to the African Rice Centre, in total there are now 82 Nerica varieties: 18 upland, 60 rainfed lowland, and four irrigated varieties.

The ability of African rice to grow under low input conditions made it an especially useful genetic resource for developing stress-tolerant rice varieties for rainfed ecosystems in Africa.

The African rice varieties show strong adaptability to harsh environments, exceptional ability to compete with weeds, resist local diseases and pests, and withstand drought, flood, infertile soils as well as iron toxicity.

“Several attempts to exploit the African rice genome through interspecific crossing had failed due to incompatibility barriers.

“The sterility barrier between the two species was circumvented by using specific culture and embryo rescue techniques, coupled with backcrossings to the Asian rice parent.

“Several hundred interspecific progenies with promising agronomic performance were generated in this way, increasing the biodiversity of rice,” the African Rice

Centre said on its website.

The interspecific lines were evaluated across Africa by farmers through participatory varietal selection, which was an innovative approach that allowed farmers to select their preferred varieties that matched their needs and growing conditions.

This process generated valuable feedback on farmers’ preference criteria for rice breeders. –