'Don't panic over power cuts'

Wheat farmers have been urged not to panic over the current power disruptions as the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement is working closely with the Ministry of Energy and Power Development to ensure that the disruptions are minimised.

The country has been experiencing power disruptions during the past few days. Zesa Holdings confirmed the limited power supply are a result of a technical fault at Hwange Power Station.

The company said the depressed power supply situation has also been compounded by the unavailability of normal import levels due to constraints in the region. Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos assured farmers that they would be prioritised in terms of power allocations.

"We are working very closely with our colleagues at the Ministry of Energy and Power Development to ensure that power supply disruptions are minimised to our wheat clusters for us to continue with our project of a much improved season ahead of us.

"Should any farmers experience any power disruptions, we kindly ask that they approach our Agritex officers for immediate interventions to be made," he said.

"As Government we agreed that we would identify wheat clusters and do everything in our power to ensure that these wheat clusters are guaranteed continuous power supply," he said.

Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Shadreck Makombe said at the moment the wheat and tobacco seedlings were still in good condition although some areas were experiencing power cuts.