Source: vietnamplus.vn
According to the Zimbabwean government, maize production in this southern African country will fall by nearly three-quarters this year due to the worst drought in four decades.
Main grain output in the 2023-2024 crop year ending on May 31 is estimated at 634,699 tons, down 72% compared to last year. Previously, the forecast output was 868,237 tons. “Statistically, this season has had the latest and driest start to summer in 40 years,” the government said in its Crop, Livestock and Fisheries Assessment report.
The El Niño weather phenomenon has caused a drought in southern Africa, reducing South Africa’s corn output by at least a fifth and prompting countries including Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe to declare national disasters. due to crop failure.
Grain millers in Zimbabwe plan to import at least 1.4 million tons of corn in July to address the shortage.
Farmers in Zimbabwe planted 1.78 million hectares of maize this season, down 7% from the target area and 12% lower than last year’s planted area.
The report said the decline reflects “transforming agroecology and a shift to traditional cereals in drier regions.”
Zimbabwe consumes 2.2 million tons of maize annually, of which 1.8 million tons are used as food and 400,000 tons are used as animal feed.
The government report warns that continued disruption of global supply chains for food, fuel and fertilizer supplies; and geopolitical developments, mainly in key crop and input supply areas, “increased the need and urgency for Zimbabwe to achieve seed, food, feed sovereignty farming, fiber, bio-oil and biofuel”./.
