Story by Peter Chivhima
THE country’s citrus production sub-sector is expecting to rake in more than US$35 million in exports this year, riding on the Zimbabwe-China Citrus Protocol.
This comes at a time when the nation has exported more than 300 metric tonnes of citrus fruits to China since the beginning of the year, thanks to the Zimbabwe – China Citrus Trade Protocol.
This was revealed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr John Basera in an interview with the Zbc news this Monday.
“So far, we have exported more 300 metric tonnes of citrus to China. So we are seeing that the production is increasing. In 2021 the oranges hectarage was 4 100 and it increased to 4 200 and this year we are expecting more. On lemons the hectarage also increased from 1600 to 1706 in 2022,” he said.
Dr Basera also revealed that citrus production has been on rebound since 2021, with farmers taking advantage of the financial mechanisms availed by government.
“We expect farmers to increase because we have put all the financial mechanisms in place which are friendly,” he added.
Farmers have embraced the Zimbabwe – China Trade Protocol concluded in 2021 with hectarage having increased.
