Grain deliveries to GMB begin

LIVINGSTONE MARUFU

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) says it has started receiving grain from the farmers and has promised to make payments within seven days.

At least ZWL$60bn has been set aside for grain procurement.

The price of maize has been pegged at ZWL$32,000 per metric tonne, while soya beans and traditional grains are pegged at ZWL$48,000 and ZWL$38,000 per metric tonne respectively.  

“Grain marketing season kicked off at the beginning of April and the farmers have already started delivering maize, with the majority of the crop coming from farmers who planted last winter,” GMB spokesperson Joseph Katete told Business Times.

“With the ZWL$60bn in place, we have already made the payments for the grain delivered to us.”

Katete said the GMB, which has 87 depots across the country was making electronic payments to farmers at various depots.

GMB, Katete said, has set up collection points in every ward to decongest main depots and is accepting grain with moisture of 13 or 14% instead of the stipulated 12.5%.

To deal with the problem of moisture content, the GMB has distributed moisture test instruments in all its collection points to ensure the farmers deliver maize with adequate moisture content of around 12.5%, he said

In the event that a farmer delivers maize with high moisture content, GMB has procured over 20 dryers to dry maize to the required moisture content.

About 13 additional driers have been procured from Italy and expected in the country soon.

Government, Katete said, has also helped in the construction of hard surface storage facilities at GMB in case the main silos are full.

Zimbabwe requires two million metric tonnes of grain and GMB is confident that the country will get past three million metric tonnes of grain.

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