{"id":5257,"date":"2026-04-24T19:24:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/home\/high-fuel-prices-threatening-agric-output-warns-zfu"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:32:36","slug":"high-fuel-prices-threatening-agric-output-warns-zfu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/en\/economy\/high-fuel-prices-threatening-agric-output-warns-zfu","title":{"rendered":"High fuel prices threatening agric output warns ZFU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press. <\/strong> <\/span>HARARE, Apr. 24 (NewsDay) &#8211; The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has raised alarm over rising fuel prices, warning that recent increases are beginning to undermine agricultural productivity, particularly for winter wheat farmers currently in the middle of the planting season.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory diesel is pegged at USD $2.09 while petrol is USD $2.08 per litre.<\/p>\n<p>In an opinion piece shared on its social media platforms, the union said the cost of fuel now affects every stage of production from land preparation and irrigation to harvesting and transportation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHigh fuel costs undermine farm productivity, especially for mechanised and irrigated crops,\u201d ZFU said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRising fuel costs are slowing mechanisation, which in turn makes land preparation less efficient, ultimately delaying planting schedules. This will hit hard on winter wheat farmers who are currently planting the crop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The union provided figures to illustrate the impact, noting that before the latest fuel price review on April 17, 2026, farmers required at least 115 litres of fuel per hectare for wheat production. This now translates to approximately US$242.65 per hectare, up from about US$174.80 recorded in the previous season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is no longer lucrative to grow wheat as budgets are reflecting a decrease in income after harvests,\u201d ZFU said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the union, the mismatch between escalating production costs and static selling prices exposes farmers to potential losses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor farmers it means production assumptions and budgets no longer hold, and to make matters worse, producer prices rarely adjust at the same speed,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n<p>ZFU warned that if the trend continues, it could negatively affect national wheat output.<\/p>\n<p>The union urged farmers to urgently review their cost structures in light of the new fuel prices and adopt more fuel-efficient and cost-effective farming methods to cushion themselves against the rising expenses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Africa<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press. HARARE, Apr. 24 (NewsDay) &#8211; The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) has raised alarm over rising fuel prices, warning that recent increases are beginning to undermine agricultural productivity, particularly for winter wheat farmers currently in the middle of the planting season. According to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory diesel is pegged at USD $2.09 while petrol [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[120],"class_list":{"0":"post-5257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>High fuel prices threatening agric output warns ZFU - Africa Press English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press. 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