By Rungano Dzikira
Government has struck a deal with over 50 agro dealers across the country for the supply of chemicals, fertilizer, stock feed and seeds to farmers at a discounted price ahead of the 2020/21 summer cropping season.
The deal with agro dealers comes as Government seeks to boost agriculture productivity and ensure food self-sufficiency and surplus.
As part of the arrangement, members of Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) are expected to benefit between 5 to 20% price discounts from Farm and City Centre, Feed Mix, TSL Tobacco, AfroDrip Tech, Farmers Choice, Mega Link agro-dealers, amongst a litany of other agro-dealers.
In a statement, ZFU said farmers could acquire “farm equipment like tractors and implements at concessionary rates from Glenwood Agricultural Equipment, as well a 10% discount on bio-fertilizers from Hagadol Enterprises.
“Drops-Tech Irrigation which provides irrigation and borehole drilling services is offering 20% discounts to farmers. Similarly, Farm and City Centre is also offering 3% discount on most products,” ZFU said.
As for the provision of financial loans for agriculture, CBZ Holdings, FBC, Financial Inclusive Services and Zimbabwe Women microfinance Bank also agreed to partner Government in financing farmers.
The support to farmers through the provision of implements, farm equipment at concessionary rates comes as a boost to small holder farmers currently facing teething problems to access loans for the procurement of vital farm implements.
Meanwhile, Government has intensified efforts to boost agricultural production through conservation agriculture methods (also known as Pfumvudza).
Under the Pfumvudza concept, communal farmers will be required to practise conservation agriculture. This concept is aimed at climate proofing agriculture by adopting conservation farming techniques and involves the utilisation of small pieces of land and applying the correct agronomic practices for higher returns with 1,6 million households expected to contribute 1,6 million tonnes of maize towards strengthening the Strategic Grain Reserve.
