Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
Retail shops in Gweru have hiked seed and fertiliser prices following a surge in demand for the products, as farmers make last-minute purchases of the inputs ahead of the farming season. A snap survey conducted by The Herald in Gweru yesterday established that most retail shops that stock seed, fertiliser and other farming inputs were recording brisk business.
Farmers who spoke to our Midlands Bureau said shops had since reviewed their prices upwards taking advantage of the high demand. At N. Richards Wholesalers, a 10kg bag of maize seed was costing between $35 and $37 depending on the seed variety. The same bags were going for between $28 and $30 last week, the farmers said. At Gains Cash & Carry, formerly National Foods, the price trend was almost the same with other shops, with a 50kg of Compound D fertiliser going for $41, up from $38. The price trends were similar in traditional seed and farming inputs stockists like Farm & City. Mrs Locadia Moyo from Lower Gweru said she could not buy what she had budgeted for after she found the prices had gone up.
“I was in town last week to check the prices,” she said. “I bought a 10kg bag of seed on Friday last week at $28 and today, I bought the same 10kg bag at $35. They have just reviewed the prices upwards, I don’t know the justification.”
Mrs Moyo said she could not buy fertiliser after she discovered that the inputs price had gone up. Another farmer, Mr Lazarus Moyo, said police should introduce price control patrols to curb unjustified price hikes, especially on farming inputs as this could have a negative impact on food security.