TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
Zimbabwe is expecting to harvest 350 000 tonnes of wheat from this year’s winter crop.
The projected output is 94% more than the 180 000 tonnes of wheat harvested last year.
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 relying on imports to meet wheat demand.
Zimbabwe imports the bulk of its wheat from Eastern Europe.
Addressing stakeholders at the Bubi-Lupane irrigation project in Matabeleland North Province, Agricultural advisory services chief director, Obert Jiri said Zimbabwe should register a record harvest across the country.
“We should expect more than 350 000 metric tonnes. So far so good,” Jiri said.
He added: “Most of the crop is at a booting stage, which is the stage where we start seeing the wheat grain, which is very soft.
“We have satellite imagery. Across the provinces we are witnessing quite a good stand of weight averaging, forecasted yield averaging above to the north of six times per head.”
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.
This has seen the market reacting, through incessant price hikes, which have seen a loaf of bread soaring to above ZWL$700 or US$1.20.
According to research in 2020, world production of wheat was 761m tonnes, making it the second most-produced cereal after maize.
Since 1960, world production of wheat and other grain crops has tripled and is expected to grow further through the middle of the 21st century.
