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By Noah Pito in HURUNGWE
Lack of cash to buy top-dressing fertiliser and heavy rains in Hurungwe’s ward 16 has reduced many farmers’ prospects of a bumper harvest this agricultural                    season.
Ward councillor Nokias Mavhurere said few farmers in the area benefited from subsidised inputs from the GMB.
Clr Mavhurere said: “For the majority of the farmers who failed to access the subsidised inputs, there is real trouble.
“The maize crop is not good at all. It is turning more yellow due to the incessant rains that have been pounded the area for weeks now.
“All prospects for a bumper harvest have been shattered.”
Clr Mavhurere said shops in the area were selling a 50kg bag of fertiliser for US$30, which he said poor communal farmers could not afford.
Informal traders sometimes sell the commodity for about US$25 a bag.
The heavy rains have also affected public transport, with the councillor saying: “At times buses have to                        spend about 10 hours waiting for the rivers to subside so that they can cross over.
“There is no bridge across Rukuwe River and each time the river is flooded no vehicle can cross.
“There is also no bridge on the Nyadara River and people have to travel to Murapa (25km away) to get transport.
“The problems in my ward are unending as villagers are travelling long distances to get medical services as there is no clinic nearby.”
The Nyadara community has to travel to Sengwe               Clinic (30km away) to get medical services while those in Nyagwizhu go to Masanga, which is about 40km away.