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Elita Chikwati, Harare Bureau

GOVERNMENT will continue to revise agricultural producer prices to ensure maximum benefits to farmers and viability of the industry, President Mnangagwa has said.

He also assured farmers that Government had put in place measures to ensure a successful 2019/20 summer cropping season.

This came out during the official opening of the inaugural Zimbabwe Agricultural Show at the Exhibition Park in Harare yesterday.

Addressing multitudes of people who attended the event who included Ministers, senior Government officials, farmers, agriculture input manufactures and suppliers, exhibitors and captions of the industry among others, President Mnangagwa encouraged input providers to avail resources to farmers timely and at viable prices.

“Favourable producer prices for the various crops will be continuously reviewed by my Government to ensure profitability of the sector,” he said.

Recently, Government increased the maize producer price from $724 per tonne to $2 100 per tonne with those farmers who had delivered their crop before the price increase going to be paid an adjustment.

The President assured farmers under various Government inputs schemes of continued support through timely distribution of inputs.

“As we prepare for the 2019/20 agricultural season, my Government has availed the resources to ensure the season ahead will be successful.

“Farmers under the Command Agriculture and the Presidential Input Scheme programmes will continue to receive timely support from my Government.

“I exhort fertiliser manufacturers, seed and chemical suppliers to equally guarantee the availability of their products at affordable prices.

Extension workers on the other and must give timely and appropriate guidance to the various categories of our farmers,” he said.

The President called upon resettled farmers to put their land to maximum use and ensure food sufficiency and boost exports.

“The new agrarian revolution requires beneficiaries to give due attention to improving productivity across all crops.

“Let us all rise to the responsibility of feeding the nation and meeting our dietary and nutritional needs as well as producing for export,” he said.

The President said he was pleased by the linkages between the agriculture sector and other sectors such as mining, tourism and manufacturing.

“I believe with commitment, zeal, focus and unity of purpose as well as further investments, our agriculture shall be a success going into the future,” he said.

The inaugural Zimbabwe Agricultural Showa was running under them theme: Technology, Innovation and Modernisation: Adopt, Accentuate and Accelerate.