235 000 ha of maize planted under Command Agriculture
Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri
ZIMBABWE’S maize import substitution programme, known as Command Agriculture, increased hectarage by 40 percent in the current season to 235 256 hectares from 168 666 hectares last year.
A Zimbabwe Annual Grain and Feed Report for June 2018 shows that farmers responded favourably to government’s market guaranteed and pre-planting price of $390 per tonne.
“According to a Ministry of Lands assessment report (January 2018), 235 256 hectares of maize and 37 088 hectares of soyabeans were planted under the programme in the 2018/19 marketing year.”
Government has announced a soya bean pre-planting price of $780 per tonne to stimulate production, which falls short of the annual requirement for the stockfeed and oil expressing industries.
Command Agriculture targets annual maize production of two million tonnes on 400 000 hectares, with at least 200 000 hectares on irrigated land. In volume terms, the target was attained with 2016/2017 maize production in excess of two million tonnes.
Last year it was revealed during a Command Agriculture coordination workshop that 475 000 hectares of land had been identified and verified, 247 035 hectares was contracted and 168 666 hectares was planted by 36 536 farmers.
The disparity between identified and contracted land was a result of the failure by some farmers to meet the criteria. Disparity between contracted and planted hectarage was caused partly by the late distribution of inputs and limited capacity by farmers to hire tillage services.
“Under the programme 5 563 tonnes of seed, 57 440 tonnes of basal fertilisers and 21 387 tonnes of top dressing fertilisers were distributed,” the report said.
To increase production and ensure food security, government financed grain inputs for 1,8 million households.
“The Presidential Input Scheme is another support programme introduced by government to enhance production. The programme supports 1,8 million small-scale and communal farmers. Through this scheme government distributed free inputs which included 10kg maize seed, 50kg basal fertiliser and 50kg top dressing fertiliser,” the report said.