Goromonzi, (New Ziana) – Wheat farmers in Goromonzi district, a rich farming area, are racing to harvest their crop before its spoilt by the current early rains.
The district had nearly 18 000 hectares under wheat this year, and the bulk of the crop has already been harvested, and a total of 12 889.85 tonnes delivered to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
But early rains, which have been falling since the beginning of the month, had caught some wheat farmers in Goromonzi off guard, prompting the race to bring in the crop before its spoilt.
According to local farming officials, around 154 hectares of the wheat crop remains unharvested in the district, and is now threatened by the rains.
For the first time in decades, the country expects to be wheat self-sufficient this year from a projected domestic harvest of more than 300 000 tonnes.
All along, it had been sustained by costly imports, which have now become uncertain due to the ongoing war between the main exporters, Russia and Ukraine.