Zimbabwe: Farmers Unhappy With Fertilizer Supply

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 5 September 2008 09/09/2008

FARMERS' leaders have expressed concern with the rate at which fertilizer is being supplied given the impending summer cropping season. In separate interviews the farmers said the supply of fertilizer should be speeded up ahead of the forthcoming season as current stocks were still a far cry from the farmers' requirements. The comments came as the fertilizer industry announced that it had so far produced 13 500 tonnes out of a targeted 32 500 tonnes as a result of the foreign currency extended to the industry by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe since June. The production is a far cry from the target of at least 560 000 tonnes to satisfy demand for the coming season. Zimbabwe Farmer's Union vice president, Mr Edward Raradza said that Government should speed up the importation of fertilizer as local production was still too low. "The figures that have been provided by the fertilizer industry are way below our requirements so we need to speed up imports as the primary source. "We need 200 000 tonnes of Compound D urgently but local production is nowhere near that figure," he said. Zimbabwe National Farmers' Union president, Mrs Monica Chinamasa also echoed the same sentiments. She, however, said local contractors should do their part in supplying inputs including fertilizer to farmers. "There is a lot of scope for contract farming especially in the production of sorghum and other grains and companies should come in with support or avail foreign currency to the local industry so that it can produce more. "We are a bit behind as we are already in the season so we need to move with speed to ensure that fertiliser is made available to farmers," she said. Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union executive president Mr Wilson Nyabonda said they were aware of the problems being faced in the production of fertilizer. He said while preparations for the farming season started sometime last year when the Minister of Agriculture Mr Rugare Gumbo and farmers sat down and agreed on requirements for the season, foreign currency shortages had hampered this. "Our appeal as farmers is that whatever foreign currency is made available to the fertiliser industry should be matched by production," he said. He also called for the prioritisation of the available fertiliser stock with the irrigated tobacco crop which is currently being planted getting priority followed by the dry land crop which would be planted in the coming week. Mr Nyabonda said focus should then shift to cotton production and then maize from mid-October onwards. "At the moment there is nothing on the shelves but farmers have sold their crops and are holding on to their money," he said. Mr Nyabonda said authorities should ensure that fertilizer that is currently being held in stock should be distributed to farmers to avoid creating bottlenecks. He said delays would create transport bottlenecks as other factors were also competing for the available transportation. These, he said, included the movement of seed and maize. Enditem