Story by Bruce Chahwanda
ZIMBABWE is moving closer to reducing its reliance on wheat imports as the country records significant progress in the production of hard wheat a key ingredient in bread-making.
The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) has successfully completed four years of trials, with seed producers also developing new varieties that are meeting industrial quality requirements.
ARDA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tinotenda Mhiko, said the trials have demonstrated strong and consistent performance, positioning Zimbabwe for full-scale production.
“ARDA has been trialling this variety for the past four years, in which we have observed consistence performance. The variety is white in colour, preferably for bakery products in terms of protein and gluten content, with protein levels of up to 17% in high altitude areas and gluten content of 37.6 %.
“The elastic gluten content formed during milling provides strength for bread making, ensuring good loaf volume and texture. Upon completion of these trials, this will be a game changer as we strive to achieve food self-sufficiency and food sovereignty, as it is our pillar in the economic blueprint-NDS2,” he said.
The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Dr Anxious Masuka, said results from the trials must trigger policy discussions regarding wheat imports.
“We produce soft wheat and we require hard wheat for the production of bread, and this is the imported product critical for bread making. When we discuss about imports of wheat, we are talking about hard wheat,” he said.
The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Dr Jenfan Muswere, said government is riding on the success of this season’s record wheat harvest.
“The harvesting of the wheat crop has been completed, with a total of 640 195 metric tonnes harvested from 122 146 hectares, at an average yield of 5.2 metric tonnes per hectare. Trials are underway at ARDA to produce a variety with “hard wheat characteristics. A total of 47 709 metric tonnes of barley has been harvested from the 6 156 hectares planted,” he said.
Zimbabwe has recorded milestones in the production of soft wheat and has been importing hard wheat from countries like Russia and Canada, which constitutes 30 % of the total wheat needed for baking bread.
The breakthrough in hard wheat production is expected to be a game-changer for the agriculture sector and downstream industries.
