TENDAIISHE NYAMUKUNDA
Anxiety has gripped farmers as they wait for the rains to usher in the 2023/24 cropping season,Business Times can report.
Apparently, most farmers have been forced to postpone planting crops due to the extended dry spell.
“ Given the situation that by this time most of the farmers would have been busy on their farms, but you would find that nothing is happening at all,” the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Dr Shadreck Makombe.
He added: “Yes land preparations here and there have been done, but unfortunately most of the crops have not been put down meaning there is no planting other than dry planting, so naturally the hectarage is going down expect for those who have got irrigation and mostly some who are in Pfumvudza scheme. But most of the farmers who rely on this rain fed planting and so forth there is nothing.”
Furthermore, Makombe said that the state of affairs was made worse by climate change and GMB’s failure to pay farmers, which made their work in the fields more difficult and could have, to some extent, assisted farmers.
“ It seams this climate change a real and are there to stay, so given the situation, it is quite challenging and coupled by the fact that GMB has not been paying farmers that’s a death nail on farmers because it would have helped to an extent.Those without irrigation would have been improvised with and would have been intensified , “ Makombe said.
He added: “We are imploring GMB to give what is due to farmers.”
Tobacco Farmers Union Trust vice president, Edward Dune said negative impacts of Elnino are beginning to be significant as farmers are being forced by the situation to have a reduced planted hectares.
“ The negative effects of Elnino are beginning to be significantly evidenced by reduced hectares. The prolonged dry weather has forced farmers to delay planting resulting in some tobacco seedlings wilting permanently. Maize stalkborer has ravaged the wetland significantly. As if it were enough our farmers have to soldier on against skyrocketing input prices and also against a hash environment as GMB had not fully paid for the grain delivered, “ Dune said.
