Farmers to get USD90 per tonne for early grain deliveries

Harare (New Ziana) – Cabinet on Tuesday reviewed the maize producer price to ZW$75 000 per tonne, while farmers who deliver to the Grain Marketing Board before the end of July will receive a fixed early delivery incentive of USD90 per metric tonne.

This was said by Acting Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere during a post Cabinet Briefing.

He said the 2022/23 grain marketing season commenced on April 1, 2022, with substantial stocks of 453 717 metric tonnes having been carried over from the previous season as a Strategic Grain Reserve.

“The nation is also informed that Cabinet has approved a review of the price of maize to ensure farmers’ viability. The current maize price to ZW$75 000/MT plus a fixed early delivery incentive of US$90/MT,” he said.

“The early delivery incentive, which will be extended to other crops such as traditional grains, sunflower and soyabean, is payable to 31 July 2022, and applies to all deliveries made since the commencement of the marketing season.”

Government recently resolved to pay farmers 30 per cent of their proceeds in US dollars and the remainder in local currency.

Last year, the GMB set the pre-planting maize producer price for the 2022 intake season at ZW$58 553 a tonne, up from ZW$32 000 the previous season.

Meanwhile, Muswere said Cabinet also announced new measures to motivate cotton farmers.

“Cabinet wishes to inform the nation that henceforth, cotton is now treated as an export crop, just like tobacco, with prices being determined by fair pricing based on international lint prices. This should motivate growers to produce more in the coming seasons,” he said.
New Ziana