Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri said the government has started distributing farming inputs to small-scale farmers, the bulk of whom are in the rural areas.
The inputs are being distributed under the Presidential Input Support Scheme, which targets 640 000 hectares of maize. Speaking to State media, Minister Shiri said:
Distribution of Presidential Inputs has started all over the country. You might have witnessed the launch of the scheme in areas such as Mkosa, Mary Mount, Chomutukuku and Chimanda, which means already inputs have started being deployed.
Shiri also revealed that distribution of inputs under the Command Farming programme has started and the maize output target has been set at 4,5 million tonnes.
Several banks have been roped in to support Command Farming, with the producer price of wheat being set at $8 612,08 per tonne from $1 089,69.