Wheat deliveries now stand at 186 682 tonnes compared to 199 459 tonnes during the same period last year with farmers expecting a bumper harvest of 600 000 tonnes this season.
This year farmers planted 121 900 hectares of wheat and have so far harvested 555 824 tonnes.
Last week, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka said 46 percent of the harvested wheat had been delivered to the Grain Marketing Board depots, three percent to the ZMX and 51 percent to other buyers including National Foods, Victoria Foods and Blue Ribbon.
In view of climate change and the current El Nino induced drought; Government has taken a deliberate policy position to immediately adopt wheat-based food security interventions.
Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) acting chief director, Mr Leonard Munamati, said they were hopeful of meeting the targeted yield.
He said delays in harvesting were caused by the early rains.
"Surveys are underway on the remaining harvest but we are hopeful that we can produce positive results this season," he said.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary Professor Obert Jiri said the country is set to introduce summer wheat cropping to consolidate the country's self-sufficiency, adding that Government was already working with researchers to identify the perfect varieties for this.
In an interview on the sidelines of Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) meeting held in Harare last week, Prof Jiri said the country was importing 30 percent of the wheat required for baking bread to improve quality.
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The Government has partnered TAAT on wheat growing to ensure that the country produces varieties that are currently being imported.
TAAT is funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to increase agricultural productivity in Africa.
"We still import about 30 percent of wheat that we need for bread production particularly to dilute our lower quality wheat. We import high-quality wheat so the TAAT programme will also help us to align flour production with our climate so that our yields continue to go up.
"We are challenging our researchers to keep on that trajectory to ensure that we are able to produce summer wheat. We are still constricted because most of the wheat that we produce requires cold temperatures so even the summer wheat will be grown towards the end of the summer season. We still have a long way to go but our breeders are really busy trying to produce wheat that does not necessarily rely on winter chill," he said.
Zimbabwe has achieved wheat self-sufficiency and is second to Ethiopia on the continent in terms of wheat production.
