Govt must show seriousness in farming
THE rainy season is upon us yet farmers are not assured of government support for the command agriculture programme since it seems to be more comfortable with the recently introduced Pfumvudza concept.
Government is supposed to keep supporting command agriculture since the new concept is still experimental.
Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement minister Anxious Masuku must quickly lead the way for farmers like what tobacco companies have done.
Private tobacco companies have accepted that last season was not good for agriculture as there was insufficient rain.
It is unfair on the part of the government to put in place strict loan payment measures based on last season’s performance as in many cases, supply of inputs was erratic, coupled with poor rains.
It is insincere on the party of government not to declare 2019 to 2020 a drought year as many crops were lost to drought.
Agriculture permanent secretary John Bhasera must not be blind to the fact that his ministry disbursed fertilisers late to farmers, but he wants full payment of the loans despite that it was not used last season.
Fuel for ploughing and planting was given in March. That must be revisited and analysed to see if that distribution had any capacity to result in good yields for a farmer.
Yes, some farmers abused command agriculture loans, particularly those who got a full package on time.
But for many, they were let down by government and the situation was worsened by a poor rainy season.
I suggest that the method used in the last farming season should not be used again this year, otherwise it defeats the whole purpose of supporting the agricultural sector.
As a way forward, government must learn and correct its mistakes.
There appears to be no urgency on the part of government when dealing with important issues.
I think government must learn from the tobacco sector where contract growers are given inputs on time.
Tobacco farmers always have farming inputs in stock, same as sugarcane farmers.
But government is not showing any seriousness in funding or supporting maize farmers.
Since the Meteorological Services Department has predicted a good rainy season, I suggest that government drops all conditions for supporting maize and soya farming as we are all eager to contribute to the success of the 2020-21 season if this country is serious about regainig the breadbasket of Africa status again.
There is potential on the part of farmers, but government must accept that it has failed farmers through erratic provision of inputs.
Let’s declare 2020-21 season a year for economic revival through supporting farmers.
Isaac Mupinyuri