TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
Zimbabwe has harvested more than 2.7 metric tonnes of maize during the 2020/21 summer cropping season, the Agritex acting director, Stancilae Tapererwa has said.
The maize yield reflects a 198% increase from 907 621 metric tonnes achieved in the previous season.
Sorghum production was 244 063 metric tonnes compared to 103 684 metric tonnes the previous year, reflecting a 135% growth, while pearl millet grew 132% to 90 683 metric tonnes compared to 39 032 the previous season.
Finger millet grew 35% to 13 223 metric tonnes compared to 9 799 metric tonnes the previous season.
Groundnuts grew 139% to 208 864 metric tonnes compared to 87 479 metric tonnes the previous season.
Sweet potato grew 269% to 422 613 metric tonnes compared to 144 558 metric tonnes.
“This year as a country, we did very well in all crops surpassing last year’s yields with the staple crop maize able to feed both people and live stick till next season with a surplus of 800 metric tonnes.
“With the meteorological department predicting normal to above normal rainfall this coming rainy season we are even looking forward to having a bumper harvest better than the one we had this year”, Tapererwa told Business Times this week.
He said the government has equipped Agritex workers as part of plans to ensure that the agricultural sector keeps on doing well.
“As Agritex we have received 5 300 motorcycles from the government and donors so that those in remote areas can be able to be mobile.
“We have also, come up with online staff training for our workers.
We have also provided 4890 workers with tablets for real data collection and taking so that they can be able to send data straight to the ministry on a daily basis,” Tapererwa said.
He encouraged farmers to start preparing for the next planting season and making sure they have all the required inputs beforehand so that our next season is even more successful.
