Farmers get windfall as GMB receives 1m tonnes of grain

Farmers get windfall as GMB receives 1m tonnes of grain   Soya beans Pamela Shumba, Senior ReporterTHE Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has collected more than one million tonnes of grain delivered to its depots countrywide during the 2017/18 marketing season, while more than 95 percent of farmers have been paid after Government provided the funding. …

Tobacco merchants mobilise more than $500m

Tobacco merchants mobilise more than $500m  0 February 22, 2018 9:11 AM   Source: Tobacco merchants mobilise more than $500m | Newsday (Business)  Tobacco merchants have mobilised more than $500 million towards this year’s tobacco marketing season, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has said. BY FIDELITY MHLANGA RBZ governor, John Mangudya told NewsDay recently that apart …

Carving economic identities essential for smaller farmers

Carving economic identities essential for smaller farmers   Charles DhewaWhile billions of dollars have gone into African agriculture, smallholder farmers and other food producers are yet to be characterised and structured in ways that give them a recognisable economic identity. Unless value chain actors have a clear economic identity, it will remain difficult for them …

Are robots the answer to agric job shortage?

Are robots the answer to agric job shortage?   NEW YORK. – Most conversations on workplace automation (a la the mechanical replacement of pizza chefs or cashiers), are accompanied by an alarmist, but valid, question: “Will a robot take my job?” But in the case of the agriculture industry, robots are actually “working” jobs that don’t …

Buffalo power to take Mozambican agric by storm

Buffalo power to take Mozambican agric by storm   Maputo. – Mozambique is experimenting on using buffaloes as agricultural draught animals and will soon start production of their milk for human consumption, an official has said. The Estação Zooténica de Chobela, a cattle management research unit in the village of Magude, Maputo province, already has 16 …

Farmers import livestock worth $8,4 million

Farmers import livestock worth $8,4 million   Ishemunyoro Chingwere Business ReporterLOCAL farmers have spent $8,4 million importing livestock breeding stock over the last three years as part of efforts to improve breeding efficiency which has plunged over the years, statics availed to this publication by Government’s statistical agency ZimStat have shown. The imports saw cattle …

Manicaland tobacco hectarage up 8,3pc

Manicaland tobacco hectarage up 8,3pc   Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland BureauManicaland Province has registered an 8,3 percent increase in the hectarage put under tobacco in the 2017-18 summer cropping season, despite the recent mid-season drought. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) statistics show that 21 302 hectares had been put under the golden leaf as at …

Floods wreak havoc

Floods wreak havoc | The Herald   Cletus Mushanawani Mash Central BureauSeveral people, including 85 school pupils, have been left stranded in Mashonaland Central province following floods that hit some areas recently after successive days of rains. The 85 pupils from Zingore Primary School in Mt Darwin, have been stuck at the school since Monday …

Over 1 000 farmers trained in small grains production

Over 1 000 farmers trained in small grains production   Masvingo CorrespondentOver 1 000 farmers in drought-prone Mwenezi have received training in small grains production as part of efforts to boost food security in the district. The training, which was conducted by the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, came in the wake of recurrent droughts. ZFU Masvingo …

Command programmes excite Mat South farmers

Command programmes excite Mat South farmers   Senior Business ReporterFARMERS in the livestock sector have hailed the Special Livestock, Fisheries and Wildlife Programme, which is aimed at improving agriculture production and guarantees Zimbabwe food security. Vice President Retired General Dr Constantino Chiwenga launched the $300 million facility in  Insiza district, Matabeleland South, last Saturday. In …