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Zimbabwe: 'Provide Fertilizers for Winter Wheat'
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 Published by the government of Zimbabwe |
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The Herald (Harare)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Harare
Wheat farmers have urged Government to provide compound D and top dressing fertilizer so that they meet this year's targeted hectarage of 70 000 hectares.
ZFU vice president Cde Edward Raradza said while some farmers have received seed and diesel for the winter wheat, the shortage of compound D and top dressing fertilizer remains a cause for concern to most farmers. The union also appealed to the Government to ensure that combine harvesters are made available on time to avoid further inconveniences. He said preparations for winter wheat cropping had begun well in various parts of the country with farmers expressing optimism that given adequate resources, they could produce better yields compared to last year.
The preparations had been, however, hampered by the unavailability of combine harvesters for summer crops such as maize and soya beans that were still in some fields. "Land preparations for winter wheat cropping have slowed down because we cannot get combine harvesters for our summer crops. We have been forced to look for labour to harvest crops like soya beans. "The cost of hiring a combine harvester has also soared. Imagine being asked to pay $10 billion per hectare to hire a combine harvester and you have 10 or more hectares to be harvested?" said one farmer from Kadoma.
He said the situation had been further compounded by the critical shortage of labour that had hit most farming areas in the country. The country has targeted to plant 70 000 hectares of wheat. The Government, through the central bank, is set to finance 30 000ha under Operation Maguta.
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