Agriculture Reporter

Following the above normal rains received across the country during the 2020/2021 summer season, Government is pleased to report that the country is set for a bumper harvest, says a Cabinet Minister.

Addressing the media soon after  a Cabinet meeting in Harare yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the envisioned bumper harvest was despite the fact that the season terminated prematurely for almost all the country’s districts and that some southern and central parts experienced wet spells in December and January, which caused nutrient leaching in most crops.

Minister Mutsvangwa revealed that maize production this year is estimated at 2 717 171 metric tonnes, which is 199% higher than the 907 628 metric tonnes produced last season.

“Traditional grains production is projected at 347968 metric tonnes which is 128% more than 152 515 metric tonnes output of the previous year.

“Total cereal production projection is 3 075 538 metric tonnes, against a national cereal requirement of 1 797 435 metric tonnes for human consumption and 450 000 metric tonnes for livestock,” she said.

The Minister also revealed that cotton production is estimated at 195 991 metric tonnes which is 94 % increase from the 101 000 metric tonnes during the previous season; while tobacco is estimated to increase by 8 % to 2 000 245 metric tonnes from 184 042 metric tonnes, last season.

Soya bean production, she said is expected to increase by 51 % to 71 290 metric tonnes from 47 088 metric tonnes last year, while Sweet potatoes is estimated to increase by 269% , Sugar beans by 142% and groundnuts by 139 %.

The Minister highlighted that the assessment further indicated that while the livestock situation still required attention, there has been a marked improvement in the state of affairs, revealing that the national beef cattle herd increased from 5 443 770 cattle in the previous season to 5 478 648, this season.

She noted that the average national cattle mortality rate decreased from 12% in 2019 to 4.2% in 2020 due to improved disease control through efforts such as from the Presidential Tick Grease Scheme and improved nutrition due to good rainy season. She however urged farmers to continue collecting their tick grease allocations from their local GMB Depots.

Meanwhile, the nation was advised that out of the original target of 75 000 hectares for wheat planting, 68 000 hectares are now available for the three schemes which support production, namely CBZ Agro Yield, Food Crop Contractors and Presidential Wheat Support Scheme, compared to 44 600 hectares, which were contracted for the whole season last year.

The Minister revealed that sufficient electricity and water supply would be available to meet the winter planting requirements.