Shortages of maize seed and fertiliser worry farmers

By Tichaona Sibanda
9 November 2007

An agricultural expert in the country said on Friday a big percentage of farmers have failed to get maize seed and fertiliser amid fears this would contribute to very low yields next year.

Renson Gasela, a former Grain Marketing Board chief executive told Newsreel the situation was getting critical because it was getting late into the farming season. Last month, the Zanu-PF led government said it was launching an ambitious plan to revive the country’s agricultural production. As part of this drive, the government has been distributing hundreds of tractors, combine harvesters and planters

‘Even with the state-of the art equipment that these farmers have, what do you produce when you don’t have the maize seed and fertiliser. Government is saying they have distributed 30 000 tonnes of seed but where is it. We don’t see it, we see absolutely nothing,’ Gasela said.

He said pronouncements by government that they would have a ‘the mother of all farming seasons’ was fantasy and wishful thinking. Farming, he added, was a matter of detail that if you got one thing wrong, it would affect everything.

‘We have had good rains, and we are in the second week of November and what it means is each day planting is delayed, it would result in lost yield. I will give you an example, a 15-day delay can contribute to a 35 percent reduction in yield,’ added Gasela.

Analysts, including Gasela blame the government’s fast-track land reform programme for destroying the agricultural sector, which was the backbone of the country’s economy before the farm evasions.

‘These shortages are all consequences of the fast-track land reform programme. Before the invasions, commercial farmers would produce enough seed for sale and you can imagine it’s no longer the case now, he said.

Gasela remains pessimistic the country would not be able to produce enough food to feed itself from this farming season, and expected food shortages to continue after the harvest and well into 2008.