Maravi

Demand for lime on increase - Chongo

Demand for lime on increase - Chongo
By Joseph Chanda in Ndola
Wednesday June 06, 2007 [04:00]

NDOLA Lime manager John Chongo has revealed that the company’s newly introduced agricultural product, Agricultural Lime, has become popular among farmers in the country. In an interview, Chongo said the demand for agricultural lime from farmers was overwhelming because it had proved to be reliable. Chongo said the product was able to neutralize the acid content in the soil which resulted in increased yields.

“For many years, this agricultural lime was being sold at give away prices because we didn’t know what it was all about. We only used to get some white commercial farmers who would come and buy it cheaply at K14,000 per tonne because we had no use for it,” he said.
Chongo said the company had some information that agricultural lime, which is normally referred to as kiln dust, could help reduce soil acidity and improve farmers’ yields.

“In 2005, we sent samples to Mount Makulu research Station in Lusaka and on the other hand we went out to Mkushi, Serenje, Mpika, Kawambwa and Solwezi and gave free seed to farmers and gave them agricultural lime so that we could see the results. And they were very encouraging and we shall continue until the 2008 farming season because it is a four-year pilot project,” he said.

Chongo said the product was helping farmers to increase their yields because most of them had ‘polluted’ their soils with fertiliser.
Ndola Lime launched Agricultural Lime in August last year.
“Now we are selling a tonne at K129,000 from K14,000. This is a big boost to our business although our core business is producing quick lime which is a popular and vital component of mining,” he said.

Chongo said the company had plans to work with the government so that the agricultural lime was distributed along with fertiliser during the farming season.

Meanwhile, Chongo said Ndola Lime was operating at a capacity of 85 per cent and was producing 850 tonnes of quick lime on a daily basis.

“We have reduced production on one of our two kilns so that we prolong its life span. One kiln is producing 400 tonnes of quicklime a day while the other gives us 450 tonnes daily,”said Chongo.

Labels: AGRICULTURE, NDOLA LIME

posted by MrK @ 4:23 AM