Harare(New Ziana)-The country’s maize crop still needs more rains to guarantee a good harvest, Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrence Shiri said on Tuesday.

Responding to questions during the weekly post- Cabinet media briefing, Shiri said though most parts of the country received rains in recent months, the maize crop was still far from satisfactory.

“We had a false start to the season which was characterised by dry spells and for those who planted early a lot of them lost their crop especially those who did not have irrigation facilities due to the dry and hot conditions we experienced in parts of November and December.

“However there were some improvements in most parts of the country as from January to about the end of February.

“I believe we still need some rains. There is some maize still to reach tussling stage; some has just reached tussling stage suggesting we still need rain. And if the rains were to turn off now then definitely we will have a number of challenges,” he said.

Shiri said farmers who planted traditional small grains were expecting a better harvest.

“I would like to reiterate the call I made earlier on in the season advising farmers to put part of their land under traditional grains. Any farmer who heed that proposal must be smiling by now given that traditional grains require a much shorter season and they are very drought tolerant.

“Those who had ears are definitely going to smile all the way to the bank,” he said.

Shiri said the Ministry had just concluded the first crop and livestock assessment exercise to ascertain the country’s crop situation.

“We have just had our initial crop and livestock assessment completed. What remains is the consolidation of the information so that we submit it to Cabinet.

“It suggests that we have not reached the end of the season and there are still a lot of activities taking place on the land,” he said.

New Ziana