Staff Reporter

President Mnangagwa has assured farmers nationwide that the country has enough fertilizers to meet the requirements for the 2022/23 summer cropping season, despite the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict which has disrupted the global supply of the commodity.

Speaking in Chiredzi over the weekend, President Mnangagwa told farmers that they should not panic as the country has secured enough fertilizers.

“We have been getting most of our fertilizers from Russia. Now, there is a conflict there and this has caused challenges in securing fertilizers from that country. We later realised that we have most of the resources needed to manufacture fertilizers on our own. Recently, I launched a fertilizer manufacturing plant so that we can be able to manufacture our own fertilizers to meet our needs,” said President Mnangagwa.

Last month, President Mnangagwa launched the state of the art Fertilizer Blender Plant at the Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (Zimphos) in Msasa with the plant having the capacity of producing 200 000 tonnes of basal fertilizers per annum.

Another state of the art fertilizer granulation plant is expected to arrive in the country anytime now and the plant will have the capacity to produce 120 000 tonnes of fertilizers annually.

The establishment of the fertilizer making plants is part of the Government’s Five Year Fertilizer Import Substitution Roadmap which is expected to see the country save over US$250 million per year which was being spent on the importation of the commodity.

Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) Chief Director in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Professor Obert Jiri informed this publication that the Government had secured enough inputs for the climate-proofed Pfumvudza/Intwasa scheme.

Prof Jiri said seed and fertilizer companies had assured the authorities that they would provide sufficient quantities of inputs.