Harare — THE Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) says members still on farms targeted for resettlement are not resisting eviction, but are waiting for the outcome of applications for land lodged with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Some of the applications were made two years ago, a spokesperson for the union said, and farmers continue to work pending responses from the Ministry.

"Some of them have already acquired inputs for summer production. If a decision is not reached, then most of their investment secured through loans from banks will all go to waste," said Emily Crookes, CFU spokesperson.

The Lands and Land Reform Ministry has sent out a circular to all chief land officers in all provinces ordering the police to arrest all white farmers remaining on farms marked for acquisition after the expiry of a 90-day grace period to wind up operations.

Government accuses the farmers of being in defiance of its land reform exercise.

"To say they are being defiant will be using the wrong adjective. What surprises us is that those productive farms are the ones that are being targeted. These farmers have already complied with government directives to downsize and are co-existing with the new farmers."

Didymus Mutasa the Lands and Land Reform Minister this week said he was working out a plan to settle the confusion, which continues to surround tenure on the farms.

The CFU has however, reported an increase in the number of attempts to evict its members from farms.

"There have been an increased number of new farmers turning up at farms occupied by white farmers armed with offer letters. The new farmers are insisting on evicting the white farmers from the farms while these same farmers have also applied for land. We are wondering what criteria is being used because the former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ngoni Masoka, said in January this year that all genuine farmers should apply for land."