Farmers urged to take rainfall forecast in mind fo...

Farmers urged to take rainfall forecast in mind for planting preps

New Ziana – The Zimbabwe government has advised farmers to make summer cropping plans bearing in mind that the rains are forecast to start next month.

A La Niña is forecast indicating a normal start and at least average rainfall for the main 2024/25 agricultural season for all of Zimbabwe, whose summer season focuses on food and feed crops, oilseeds and industrial crops, for both local consumption and export.

The target is to increase production of cereals from about 750 000 tons produced during the 2023-2024 summer season to over 3.2 million tons.

“Cabinet also received a brief on the 2024/2025 Seasonal Rainfall Forecast for Zimbabwe as presented by the Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Dr Sithembiso Nyoni,” Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere told the media on Tuesday.

“Cabinet would like to advise that during the 2024/2025 summer season, the country is expected to receive normal to above normal rainfall.

However, the month of October is expected to be drier than the long-term average, but from November onwards the forecast is for normal to above normal rainfall,” he said.

Zimbabwe and the rest of the Southern African region are in the grip of a devastating El Nino-induced drought, which has left 9.2 million people in rural areas requiring food assistance up to March 2025.

Zimbabwe is running a blitz to distribute food aid to the 9.2 million food-insecure people in rural areas while 1.7 million in urban areas are benefiting from an Urban Cash Transfer Program.