ZIMBABWE is expecting at least 2,3 million tonnes of maize from the 2022/23 summer cropping season, a 58 percent increase from last year’s production, a Cabinet minister has said.
Successive droughts have weighed down crop production in recent years, but this has changed due to good rains and the introduction of conservation agriculture, popularly known as Pfumvudza/Intwasa.
The good cropping season has also been attributed to early distribution of inputs, especially under the Presidential Inputs Programme, training of farmers, capacitation of extension workers and robust monitoring and evaluation.
In a weekly post-Cabinet briefing to journalists on Wednesday night, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the expected gains in maize pro[1]duction were notwithstanding uneven distribution of rains during the season.
“Cabinet wishes to inform the nation that despite the uneven start and distribution of rains during the 2022/2023 summer season, the prospects for high yields now look bright, following the Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment, which has been completed,” she said.
“The estimated maize production is 2 298 281 metric tons (mt), a 58 percent increase on the 2021/2022 season. Traditional grains production is estimated at 280 966mt, a 45 percent increase on the 2021/2022 figure; sorghum production is expected to be 191 125mt, which is 32 percent more than production in the 2021/2022 season.
Pearl millet production is expected to be 171 221mt, which is 61 percent more than what was produced in 2021/2022 season; and finger millet production is expected to be 18 610mt, which is 250 percent more than what was produced in the 2021/2022 season.”
Mutsvangwa said expected total cereal production was 2 579 247mt against a national requirement of 1 837 742mt for human consumption and 450 000mt for livestock, leaving a surplus. She said cotton production for the 2022/2023 season was estimated at 152 472mt, a three percent increase from the previous season.
Tobacco production was estimated at 234 745mt, reflecting a nine percent increase on the 2021/2022 season, while soya bean production was estimated at 93 089mt, a 13 percent increase on the 2021/2022 season. Groundnuts production increased by 118 percent from 98 765mt in the 2021/2022 season to 214 145mt this season, while sugar bean production increased by 23 percent to 31 274mt in 2022/2023. — New Ziana