(LUSAKATIMES) More crops would have gone to waste had PF not been voted into power-Sata

More crops would have gone to waste had PF not been voted into power-Sata
TIME PUBLISHED - Monday, November 7, 2011, 4:48 pm

President Michael Sata has disclosed that more than 60 per cent of the crop that has been purchased would have gone to waste if the Patriotic Front was not elected into power.

In a press statement made available to the media by Special Assistant to the President for Press and public relations, George chellah , Mr Sata said that he was happy with the progress government has made in the purchase of maize and other crops since taking over office.

The President disclosed that government has so far purchased over 1,660,899 Metric Tonnes (MT) of maize worth K2.1 trillion and over 993MT of rice worth K1.5 billion.

“Government has paid out over K1, 774,836,300,000 (approximately K1.8 trillion) and another K100 billion will be disbursed this week to speed up payments to our farmers and settle all arrears in order for them to proceed with the ongoing farming season with minimum difficulty,” President Sata said.

“More than 60 per cent of the crop that has been purchased would have gone to waste if this government was not elected to power.”

The President has re-affirmed that the new administration was determined to steer the agricultural sector as promised and in line with the PF manifesto.

“During the campaigns we made an undertaking that we shall ensure that maize and other crops were bought just in the early days of us taking office. This promise we have kept hence our decision to dedicate huge sums of money to the crop marketing season,” President Sata said.

“More than 60 per cent of the crop that has been purchased would have gone to waste if this government was not elected to power.”

“We would like to express our gratitude to our millers who have reduced the price of mealie meal. And we hope that others who have not yet effected this price reduction will do so to help the majority of our people afford this essential commodity.

“We are happy that the Food Reserve Agency has taken keen interest in purchasing other crops such as rice and we anticipate that other high-value cash crops will be identified.”

The President also said government is working on comprehensive measures to combat animal diseases in the country especially in Southern Province.