GMB ordered to immediately start moving grain to deficit areas

CABINET yesterday ordered the Grain Marketing Board to immediately start moving grain to deficit areas across the country.

In an interview after yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made said Cabinet had also instructed Finance Minister Tendai Biti to release money to GMB for the purpose. The Cabinet decision comes in the wake of Minister Made's recent presentation of the results of the final crop assessment in which he revealed that the summer season was poor due to erratic rains.

"Minister Biti has undertaken to provide the funds to enable GMB to start moving the grain, which should be accessible to everybody in need of it," said Minister Made.

"Under no circumstances should anyone be denied access to the grain as it is not for free but being made available through a grain loan scheme. Beneficiaries are expected to pay later."

Minister Made warned GMB officials countrywide against asking farmers to pay for transport to move the grain saying it was the Government's responsibility. GMB and extension officers, he said, should not interfere with people intending to access the grain.

People in the grain deficit areas, Minister Made said, should approach the GMB for the grain and avoid dealing with officials purporting to represent the GMB.

"The GMB must set up mobile grain sale points in the communal areas. It is its mandate to move the grain to the people so that they can easily access it," said Minister Made.

Zimbabwe is expecting to harvest one million tonnes of maize from the 2011/12 summer cropping season.

This will leave the country with a deficit of nearly a million tonnes that will be covered by grain in the strategic reserve and imports.  At the moment the country has a stock of 400 000 tonnes which will add up to 1,4 million tonnes when this season's projected maize harvest is included.

The nation requires about 1,4 million tonnes of grain for human consumption and 350 000 tonnes for livestock and other uses. In the recent crop assessment report Minister Made said the country had cropped 1 689 786ha of maize in the 2011/12 season registering a decrease of 19 percent from the 2010/11 season in which 2 096 035ha of maize were planted.

"Forty five percent of the maize that was planted this season is a write off. Last season 333 637ha of maize were written off. This year the hectarage written off rose to 722 557, an increase of 117 percent," he said.

Minister Made also revealed that 83 882ha of sorghum planted this season had been written off while 32 878ha and 5 621ha of pearl and finger millet had also been written off respectively. Forty percent of combined maize and small grains planted crop is a write off.

Masvingo province had 155 484ha of maize written off, followed by Midlands with 137 663ha and Manicaland with 94 271 ha.  Farmers in communal areas, said Minister Made, were contributing the greater portion of maize and small grains.

"Forty percent of the total maize yield is coming from the communal sector when we have A2 farmers who got free land which is prime in terms of soil and rainfall and have the capacity of borrowing," said the Minister.