Story by Tendai Munengwa
THE Government has set an ambitious target to produce 1.5 million tonnes of wheat by 2028, a move that could position Zimbabwe as a net exporter of the cereal crop.
Speaking to ZBC News on the sidelines of a year-end luncheon in Harare, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka, said the target is achievable under the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), which was launched last month by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Dr Masuka noted that the progress achieved under NDS1 provides a solid foundation for meeting the 2028 production goal.
“We have recorded huge milestones under NDS 1 and wheat we have broken records and set new ones – from 175 000 tonnes in 2020 the Agriculture systems and Transformation plan has seen wheat production going to over 450 000, 600 000 and now over 630 000 with this trends we now envisage that by 2028 wheat production will hit 1.5 million tonnes that will see Zimbabwe being a food secure and net exporter of the cereal crop,” he said.
He said a major interest is the unveiling of a new hard wheat, a hard variety that is expected to end the importing of blending wheat.
“We are growing the hard wheat, which is used to blend our local crop when baking bread. We thank our breeders for coming up with this new variety, which we are currently importing,” Dr Masuka said.”
With over 10 000 dams dotted across the country’s wheat greenbelts, observers concur that prospects for Zimbabwe to regain its status as the breadbasket of Southern Africa are bright.
