Yeast maker goes into wheat farming

Deputy Minister Haritatos

The country’s sole yeast manufacturer, Lessafre, has embraced Government’s call for companies to help reduce the import bill, after growing winter wheat on 64 hectares this season.

Zimbabwe imports wheat valued at US$100 million per annum, but currenct shortages of hard currency have seen Government imploring millers, bakers and other companies that can grow wheat and other crops such as soyabeans and sunflower to do so.

In an interview, Lessafre general manager Mr Munyaradzi Mutsvairo said: “We have planted 64 hectares of wheat this winter season, with a projected yield of about 450 tonnes.

“The farming was done in our Geluk Farm and we were a bit delayed by lack of water for irrigation because right now, our dam is almost empty. We always plant winter wheat as a way of managing excess effluent coming out from our factory, which is rich in various nutrients that stimulate plant growth.

“We have talked to the City of Gweru to provide us with more water from Ngamo Dam. We really hope they will consider our plea so that our project is a success. We have about 410 hectares which could be utilised but because of the water situation, we will only utilise 64 hectares this year.”

Mr Mutsvairo said if water supply was adequate, the company could produce up to 3 000 tonnes of wheat.

“If we could get water to irrigate all 410 hectares of wheat, it means our farm can easily produce close to 3 000 tonnes of wheat, which will significantly reduce the amount of wheat imported from other countries,” he said.

Recently, Government announced that it was targeting to put 75 000 hectares under wheat production this winter farming season to significantly reduce wheat shortages in the country.

Under Command Agriculture, 60 000 hectares will be planted while 15 000ha will be sponsored by the private sector under private, public partnerships (PPP).

Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Vangelis Haritatos recently said Government was fully prepared for this winter wheat cropping season.

“This will be a very exciting season because we are fully prepared and we have enough inputs. We have enough seeds, fertiliser, chemicals and everything needed to make this project a success,” he said.

Wheat shortages have piled pressure on the country to allocate resources to import the cereal.

The country requires almost 500 000 tonnes of wheat to eliminate imports and shortages of confectionaries.

Apart from growing wheat on its Geluk Farm, Lessafre also grows maize.