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Minister Joseph Made

Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
THE Government will open satellite depots next month to enable farmers from all parts of the country to take their produce to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

Responding to questions in Parliament on Wednesday, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made said the country was expecting a bumper harvest this year hence the need to assist farmers to transport the produce.

He said Government was aware of difficulties that farmers might encounter in transporting their produce following the destruction of roads and bridges in some parts of the country due to heavy rains.

“We are going to open satellite depots to enable farmers to take their produce to the GMB. The satellite depots will be in relation to grain as well as cotton.

It’s not only about the bumper harvest that we are expecting but we also know that in other areas, the road networks are bad. The purpose of the satellite depots is to assist farmers so that they do not transport the produce for long distances,” said Dr Made.

He said when his ministry opens the satellite depots, no farmer should travel more than 5km with their produce.

“No farmer should be moving produce for more than 5km. You cannot draw scotch carts and so forth beyond any reasonable point. The satellite depots will go a long way in making life easy for the farmers. The grain will be protected there and when GMB will move it to their main depots when they are ready to do that,” said the minister.

Dr Made said the decision was also meant to address the problem of some farmers who have resorted to selling their produce, especially cotton, in Mozambique.

He said all produce including sorghum, millet and maize will be bought at $390 per metric tonne, adding that the Government will soon avail the pricing for cotton.

— @pamelashumba1.