(LUSAKATIMES) Embrace conservation farming-Farmers tipped

Embrace conservation farming-Farmers tipped
Sunday, May 8, 2011, 4:17 pm

Vice President George Kunda’s wife Ireen, has stressed the need for farmers in the country to embrace conservation farming in a bid to boost agriculture production.

Addressing farmers during the presentation of 224 bicycles to 28 farmers from eight farming camps of Serenje in Central Province yesterday, Mrs. Kunda also urged small scale farmers in the district to adopt conservation farming to enhance their crop yields.

ZANIS reports that Mrs. Kunda said Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives with support from the United Nations (UN) agency Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) deliberately introduced conservation farming as a way of achieving agriculture production hence increasing food security at both household and national levels.

Mrs. Kunda who was accompanied by some Ministers’ spouses among them Central Province Minister Ackimson Banda’s wife advised small scale farmers to apply principles on conservation farming among them minimum soil tillage, timely planting and application of fertilizer and crop rotation noting that if properly applied these could help improve crop yields.

Mrs. Kunda told the farmers to seriously adhere to the principles of conservation farming, if the country was to experience another superfluous crop yields.

Mrs. Kunda who told the gathering that the presentation of bicycles was a continuation of an exercise which was started by the First Lady added that the distribution was done in Chieftainess and Chief Mailo’s chiefdoms.

She further advised farmers to use the bicycles they had received to monitor performance of conservation farming in their respective camps and not for other purposes.

Among beneficiaries of the bicycles comprised farming camps such as:Mbaswa, Chimupati, Kamena, Kabundi,Chibobo,Muchinka, Mulilima and Chisebwa.

Serenje District Commissioner, Stanley Chibwana and District Agriculture Coordinator Kennedy Mulenga were also present during the event.

ZANIS