BY Stephen Chadenga
At least 75 cattle have succumbed to drought in parts of the Midlands province in the past two months and farmers have been urged to de-stock and by supplements for the remaining beasts.
Midlands provincial crops and livestock officer, Madeline Magwenzi said four areas in the province were the worst affected.
“We have over 75 cattle that succumbed to drought in the past two months and these are mainly in Kwekwe, Mberengwa, Zvishavane and Zhombe,” she said.
“These deaths were recorded since August to date due to the drought. Grazing is not available and of low quality.”
“We urge farmers to consider de-stocking by selling older stock and use the proceeds to buy stockfeed.”
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Magwenzi said there was need for a subsidy for stockfeed to enable farmers to buy it.
“We should go back to a situation we had before where there was a subsidy for concentrates,” Magwenzi said.
Early this year, there were reports that farmers particularly in Gokwe North and South as well as Mberengwa were selling cattle at giveaway prices due to shortage of pasture.