LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Government says it is targeting to put 85 000 hectares of land under winter wheat this year, up from 80 000 hectares planted last year as part of efforts to increase wheat output and reduce imports.
Last year, the country’s winter wheat output was close to 380 000 metric tonnes which provided enough stocks for the next wheat harvest.
Speaking at the CEO Roundtable, on behalf of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development minister Anxious Masuka, chief economist Dorcas Tawonashe told delegates that the country was striving to move past wheat self-sufficiency.
“This coming winter wheat season, we are targeting to plant 85 000 hectares under wheat,” she said.
Wheat output for Zimbabwe, which requires 400 000 tonnes of wheat a year, has over the years plummeted.
To cover for the shortfall, Zimbabwe has been importing wheat from Eastern Europe.
Zimbabwe has over the years been over reliant on wheat and flour imports amid subdued domestic production, which has exposed the economy to global shocks occasioned by supply chain disruptions linked to Covid-19, climate change dynamics and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
But in the past two seasons, the country has ramped up production to reduce the overreliance on imports.
