Farmers in Zimbabwe are expected to start planting their 2023 summer cereal crops this October while harvesting of the planted crop is expected to begin next May.
In a country brief on Zimbabwe released this week by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the southern African country is expected to receive above-average rainfall amounts forecast for 2022/23 cropping season.
The same rainfall pattern is expected in most countries in the SADC region.
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“Planting of the 2023 cereal crops will begin in October 2022 and the harvest is expected to start in May next year. Current weather forecasts point to a higher-than-normal likelihood of above-average rainfall amounts between October 2022 and March 2023, boosting production prospects,” FAO announced.
It added that the adverse weather conditions had resulted in below-average cereal outturn this year, and as a result food inflation was still at exceptionally high levels in Zimbabwe.
However, FAO warned that despite a good summer rain season expected in Zimbabwe, the high prices of agricultural inputs, including fertilisers, seed and fuel, were going to increase production costs and reduce application rates, with a likely adverse impact on farmers’ planting intentions and yields.
Meanwhile, FAO said the total cereal production, including a forecast of the winter wheat crop that will be harvested from October this year, is pegged at two million tonnes.
This is four percent below the five-year average.
“Production of maize, the main food staple, is estimated at about 1.6 million tonnes, slightly below the five-year average. The lower-than-average cereal outturn reflects unfavourable weather conditions, characterised by an uneven temporal distribution of rains, which resulted in low yields and offset the positive effects of an above-average area planted.”
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To compensate for the low cereal outturn in 2022, import requirements in the 2022/23 marketing year (April/March) in Zimbabwe are estimated to increase on a yearly basis, but remain lower than the recent five-year average.
“Maize imports are expected to rise between 100 000 and 200 000 tonnes in 2022/23, while a drawdown in stocks, which had been built up to above-average levels in the previous two years, will also help meet national consumption needs.
“Imports of wheat in 2022/23 are foreseen at below-average levels due to a likely drawdown in domestic stocks. By contrast, imports of rice, which is not produced in significant quantities in the country, are foreseen to rise to a level above the five-year average, as international prices are comparatively stable.”
