LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Zimbabwe could see a 53% drop in wheat imports this year to US$55.2m from US$118m last year due to expected good wheat yields and a sharp increase in demand for cereals, official data obtained from the central bank and Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe shows.
The National Wheat Contract Farming Committee (NWCFC), this week said local wheat output is expected to skyrocket by 212.5% to reach 250 000 tonnes this year from 80 000 tonnes achieved last year.
This has been attributed to uninterrupted supply of electricity and availability of cheap funding. Local cereal demand has also increased to 400,000 this year from 350 000 in 2015 owing to change of lifestyles and increased food stuffs production.
Although wheat farmers planted about 41,000 hectares of wheat during the 2020 winter wheat season from a planned 65 000 hectares due to dwindling water levels in various water bodies, this was 41% higher than 29,000 hectares planted last year.
“This winter wheat season we expect a wheat output of around 250,000 tonnes due to an uninterrupted power supply therefore a country is expected to spend less on wheat imports as the local production continues to improve,” the NWCFC vice- chairperson Graeme Murdoch, told Business Times this week.
“If wheat farmers continue with the momentum, the country could be self-sufficient soon thereby saving a great deal of forex.”
He said the expected 250,000 tonnes of wheat this year was within reach.
This winter season, it is estimated that the private sector planted between 7, 000 hectares and 10,000 due to dwindling water levels in various water sources caused by drought in the past summer cropping season.
When exports and production are going down, agriculture experts said government and private sector should work together to improve production.
In 2018, wheat output stood at 160,000 metric tonnes and since then the national output has been sliding further down.
But, this year Zimbabwe is expected to improve wheat output per hectare of five tonnes to reach above seven tonnes per hectare.
This will result in the country using less forex on wheat importation.
