Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Vangelis Haritatos has revealed that the local wheat production declined from 186 243 metric tonnes in 2017 to 160 600 metric tonnes last year.
The decline in production has resulted in the country increasingly relying on imports to make up for shortfalls and meet wheat demand, estimated at 400 000 metric tonnes annually. Said Haritatos:
Last season, the country produced 160 660 metric tonnes of wheat. Payments to farmers are up to date except for the price adjustments to wheat deliveries as the producer price has been increased from $500 per metric tonne to $621,50 per metric tonne.
Our national wheat requirement has increased from between 300 000 metric tonnes in the 1990s to 400 000 metric tonnes currently.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mangaliso Ndlovu said that Zimbabwe was losing $100 million annually to wheat imports due to failure by farmers to produce enough stocks.
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