Wheat harvesting has started across Zimbabwe, with the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) Leasing Company dispatching combine harvesters to farmers who are ready to harvest their crops.
Farmers in Mashonaland East province who received a new combine harvester to clear 200 hectares of wheat told ZBC News that they were happy with the timely intervention.
One of the farmers, Kelvin Nyakonda spoke to ZBC News following the commissioning of the new harvester:
We are very happy to get new combine harvesters as they will enable us to harvest our wheat on time.
Another farmer, Claudius Musokeri echoed Nyakonda’s sentiments adding that the availability of combine harvesters on time will save their crop from the rains.
AFC Leasing Company General Manager Shepard Kondo assured the nation that adequate combine harvesters have been procured to ensure the wheat crop is harvested before the onset of rains. He is quoted as saying:
We have secured new and efficient combine harvesters to lease to farmers to clear their wheat crop ahead of the rain season. As you can see, this is one of the 16 new harvesters commissioned to do the job. So we would like to assure the nation that we will make sure we save the farmers and wheat from the rains.
Zimbabwe is targeting a record 380 000 tonnes of wheat against a national requirement of 360 000 tonnes.
The harvest would be of great importance considering that the war between Russia and Ukraine disrupted wheat supplies on the world market.