Maravi

Reduction in farming inputs will affect production - Kanchele

Reduction in farming inputs will affect production - Kanchele
By Joan Chirwa
Friday September 28, 2007 [04:00]

THE reduction in the next season's farming inputs to small-scale farmers will have terrible effects on agriculture production, Kazungula District Agricultural Committee chairman Aggrey Kanchele has observed. Reacting to this year's allocation of 1,000 packs of fertilizer and seed provided under the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP) for the 2007/2008 farming season, Kanchele said Kazungula district needed in excess of 3,500 packs of faming inputs for the coming season to have adequate maize production in the area.

During the previous season, Kazungula district received a total of 3,000 packs of farming inputs for onward distribution to the small-scale farmers in the area.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, through the FSP, has this year provided only 50,000 metric tonnes of farming inputs for the coming farming season for all the farmers in the country compared to over 80,000 metric tonnes provided the previous season.

"We hope our district will be one of those who can benefit from an additional allocation of farming inputs. Otherwise, if we only get the 1,000 packs that we have initially been given, then we are likely to see reduced crop production in the area," Kanchele said. "We also want the government to explain the reasons behind the drastic reduction of allocations of farming inputs."

Kanchele said Kazungula district had the capacity to produce more food crops if adequate inputs are provided to the small-scale farmers.

"But because of unavailability of adequate farming inputs, the area is not producing as much as it can," Kanchele said. "Because of having less farming inputs, the area has continued to produce less crops."

Earlier, farmer associations in Northern Province also complained of a massive reduction in farming inputs to 17,000 packs compared to 34,000 packs provided the previous season for the whole province.

But agriculture and co-operatives minister Ben Kapita explained that the reduction in allocation of farming inputs was a result of increased stakeholder participation in the provision of agricultural inputs to farmers.

Labels: FERTILIZER

posted by MrK @ 9:45 PM