Zimbabwean farmers have urged the government to provide inputs for winter wheat farming early for the sector to achieve significant yields.

The Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU) Vice President Edward Raradza said on Friday that winter wheat yields would be determined by the government's timeliness in providing the necessary inputs.

"Our farmers have prepared for winter wheat farming but the tonnage will be determined by early inputs. If we get inputs early, then we can expect four to five tons per hectare, if we don't, the yields will be low," he said.

He advised the government and financial institutions to make available the inputs and finances on time as farmers had already submitted their applications.

The Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe (CFU) President Doug Taylor-Freeme said a delay in the disbursement of funds by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for winter wheat farming would affect output.

"We are concerned with the availability of financial resources to ensure timely purchases of inputs. We understand the central bank has the finances available but there seems to be sluggish processing throughout the chain," he said.

The Indigenous Commercial Farmers' Union (ICFU) President Davison Mugabe said he was happy with preparations for the winter wheat crop.

He commended the government for doing its best to ensure adequate preparation by farmers.

Last year only 65,000 hectares were put under winter wheat out of a targeted 80,000 hectares mainly as a result of poor planning with shortage of inputs among chief obstacles.

The government has allocated 1.7 trillion Zimbabwe dollars to cover 110,000 hectares for winter wheat this year, with five tons of wheat expected from each hectare. (One U.S. dollar equals about 101,000 Zimbabwe dollars.)

It has also set up an emergency Agricultural Coordinating Committee to ensure the target is met.

Source: Xinhua