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FARM workers Stephen Banda (right) and Thomas Nyathi attend to a sprinkler at a farm in Umguza in this file photo

Msilisi Dube
AS the winter season fast approaches, most commercial farmers are scratching their heads as they ponder the prospects of winter cropping.Wheat production has, however, declined over the years, mainly due to inadequate financial resources.

Current indications in uMguza in Matabeleland North are that winter wheat production will be low this season due to many challenges which include lack of capital and the state of fields.

Most farmers in the area have not started preparing for the winter season because their fields are waterlogged as a result of heavy rains that fell at the beginning of the year.

Witness Ngwenya of Mswelangubo farm said they had not started preparing the land for planting because the fields were waterlogged.

“Our field is stilll waterlogged hence the tractors cannot plough so we have to wait until it is dry. I do not think that we are going to have a winter crop this year because of the state of our fields. This is going to be a major drawback this season,” said Ngwenya.

Besides the issue of waterlogged fields, erratic power supply is also posing a serious threat to this season’s cropping. Most farmers cannot afford to buy pre-paid electricity everyday because of the exorbitant rates.

“I use about $600 per month to buy electricity so that I irrigate my 13 hectares of soya beans. It is hard for us to water our crops everyday because of shortage of capital. We are having capital shortage because GMB has not fully paid us our money.

“It would be a noble idea if Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) could provide us with electricity during the planting season then we pay them after we have sold our crops,” said Ngwenya.

The department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) Matabeleland North chief extension officer, Dumisani Nyoni, said most farmers were unlikely to grow winter wheat and barley due to lack of resources.

He said 240 hectares would be put under wheat while 200 would be under barley. The area under wheat is significantly lower than the 450 hectares of wheat planted last year. “Most farmers are still to harvest their crops but many are already citing difficulties in sourcing funds for fertilizers and land preparations. To make matters worse farmers in uMguza are likely to have their schedules to irrigate disrupted since they are using prepaid meters for electricity and this is discouraging most of them,” said Nyoni.

Since 2000, the highest harvest was in 2006 when production reached a peak of 135,000  tonnes. In 2009, the country experienced the worst ever winter wheat season as it only managed to produce a mere 12,000  tonnes. Since then, the highest yield that the farmers have managed in the last few years is last season’s harvest of 25,000 tonnes.

The country consumes about 450,000 tonnes each season and imports of at least 200,000 tonnes are needed to supplement local production every season.

In past years farmers would by now have lined up activities for the winter season and would have secured partners to fund wheat production.

Normally, winter wheat preparations start as early as February, but this year farmers are yet to start.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union president Wonder Chabikwa has been quoted saying the cost of wheat production in the country is expensive due to high electricity tariffs and input costs.

“Due to power cuts that have characterised our country, the cost of irrigation is too high. Using diesel generators for irrigation is more expensive than relying on electricity. Also, the cost of electricity is still high for our farmers. The government promised a 55 percent subsidy on electricity tariffs, but it is taking long to be implemented,” said Chabikwa.