Bulawayo, (New Ziana)- The winter wheat planting season in Zimbabwe is moving at a faster pace than last year with close to 70 000 hectares already planted, as the government steps up efforts to achieve the targeted 125 000 hectares by the end of this month, a senior official has said.
Giving an update on the 2026 winter wheat season on Tuesday, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Prof Obert Jiri said the country has planted 54 percent of the targeted hectarage by Monday this week, placing the sector in a stronger position compared to the same period last year.
“We are way ahead of where we were in 2025. So far, we have planted 54 percent as of May 25, which is almost 70 000 hectares of the 125 000 hectares that we are targeting this season,” he said.
Prof Jiri, however, stressed the need for urgency in the remaining days of the planting window, with the remaining gap to be breached in the next six days, and planting expected to end by the end of this month.
Prof Jiri attributed some of the delays to slow drying conditions following the summer cropping season, saying many farmers were still transitioning from summer to winter production.
“But we know that most of these farmers are now quickening their harvesting to ensure that they plant wheat in the winter that is left,” he said.
He urged farmers across the country to complete planting within the recommended timeframe to avoid reduced yields associated with late planting.
Prof Jiri said Mashonaland West remains the leading province in winter wheat planting, having planted about 60 percent of its target hectarage, while Mashonaland Central is also nearing 60 percent and Mashonaland East has reached about 50 percent.
“We expect these provinces to quicken their plantings so that we can catch up with our target for the coming winter season,” he said.
He explained that the country’s strong water position following a good rainfall season had created favourable conditions for winter wheat production.
“Following the good season that we had in the 2025-26 summer season, our dams were left at over 93 percent full,” he said.
Prof Jiri noted that the high water levels would guarantee irrigation for the bulk of the winter wheat crop even in the absence of additional rainfall next season.
He added that irrigation schemes are expected to play a critical role in supporting wheat production, with 19 000 hectares set to come from irrigation schemes supplied by dams.
Currently, the country has more than 460 irrigation schemes, with over 331 functional, although planting progress within the schemes has remained slow.
Prof Jiri said the government wants all irrigation schemes to operate under the V30 Accelerator Model, which promotes commercially driven agriculture under the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) framework.
“We expect all the irrigation schemes to convert to the V30 accelerator model under the ARDA scheme, which means that all irrigation schemes must be commercial,” he said.
He said irrigation schemes should function as business units capable of accessing finance, entering joint ventures and reinvesting profits into future production cycles.
New Ziana
