National crop assessment complete Cde Davis Marapira
Deputy Minister Davis Marapira

Deputy Minister Davis Marapira

Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
THE national crop assessment is complete and will be submitted to Parliament next week, Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister Davis Marapira has said.

The Ministry embarked on the national crop assessment exercise last month following a prolonged dry spell that resulted in some crops wilting.

“The crop assessment is complete with every province having brought their reports to the ministry. The full report will be submitted to Parliament next week.

“Once Parliament has gone through the report we’ll let the public know the situation on the ground,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.

He said his ministry will continue working closely with farmers as they are starting to harvest and also prepare for the next season.

“I’m happy that this season was better than last season in terms of rainfall and productivity by the farmers.

“As a ministry we’re doing our best to assist farmers to protect their crops, achieve good results and help the country improve its food security,” said Deputy Minister Marapira.

In January, Deputy Minister Marapira said about 30 percent of the country’s crops were a write off due to the prolonged dry spell that hit the country.

He, however, said the country had enough grain in its strategic grain reserves, which was enough to sustain the country up to end of this year.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has also assured the nation that there is enough food even if some farmers fail to harvest this year.

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) last month revealed that it has collected more than one million tonnes of grain delivered to its depots countrywide during the 2017/18 marketing season, while more than 95 percent of farmers had been paid after Government provided funding.

The GMB said deliveries of such magnitude were last made during the 1994/95 season. — @pamelashumba1

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