Zimbabwe is projecting a 43-percent drop in maize production following a relatively poor 2021/22 agricultural season, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa announced late Wednesday.
Addressing the media following the weekly cabinet meeting, Mutsvangwa said the output of maize is estimated at 1,557,914 metric tonnes this year, down from the 2,717,171 metric tonnes harvested in the 2020/21 farming season.
She attributed the decline to the late start to the 2021/22 farming season, which saw the first rains being “received in the last week of December 2021.”
“This late onset of the rains caused late plantings, which were later affected by the prolonged dry spell,” Mutsvangwa said.
She added: “Some farmers were also forced to make several re-plantings as a result of poor crop establishment and the false start of the season.”
The poor rains also affected the production of traditional grains such as sorghum.
“Traditional grains production is projected at 194,100 metric tonnes, which is 44 percent less that the 347,968 metric tonnes output of the previous season.”
This brought Zimbabwe’s projected total cereal production to over 1.75 million tonnes against a national cereal requirement of more than 2.27 million tonnes.
JN/APA