NatFoods to put 5 000ha under winter wheat crop

Michael Tome Business Reporter

This comes as the Government is targeting 120 000ha of the cereal this year, taking into cognisance the El Nino drought, which destroyed the bulk of the summer crop this season.

Last year, NatFoods bought 40 000 tonnes of winter wheat from its contracted farmers.

The food manufacturing company established the contract farming unit, PHI, in 2011.

A total of 2400 ha were also put under soya crop in the same cropping season.

According to NatFoods, ramping up local wheat production is critical as the company is investing in more production lines that require wheat as a raw material.

The Government has set in place measures to drive winter wheat production to reduce imports as the country ultimately targets being a net importer of the cereal.

Hard wheat is typically grown in arid regions and can withstand harsh environmental conditions, while soft wheat is usually grown in more temperate climates and has a shorter growing season. Despite these differences, both hard and soft wheat are important crops that play a vital role in the bakery industry.

The narrative is however, being changed through Government and private sector initiatives to increase local production of the cereal.

Addressing the media during a tour of NatFoods recently, group chief executive officer Mr Michael Lashbrook said he was optimistic about a successful winter wheat season this year.

“Improvement in local wheat production in recent years has been a welcome development and it is important to us because we are backing our future of growing wheat here by investing in pasta, so it is really important to us.

“Last season we bought about 40 000 tonnes from our growers,” said Mr Lashbrook.

From the private sector side, CBZ Agroyield is targeting 11 500 hectares, NMBZ 2 500 hectares, AFC land bank 16 000 hectares, ARDA will put 43 000 hectares under the cereal crop in a joint venture with an unnamed entity and will go it alone for the 2 000 ha of the crop on its estates.

The country realised 467 905 tonnes of the cereal in 2023  from 375 000 tonnes harvested in 2022.

The Government is determined to reinforce its agriculture sector initiatives as it continues to make deliberate efforts towards the country’s food self-sufficiency goal.

The initiative is expected to be driven through the cooperation of private sector contractors whom the Government has integrated to support at least 40 percent production of their raw material requirements from local production.