FRA urges DACOs to advise farmers on maize drying
FRA urges DACOs to advise farmers on maize dryingBy Namatama Mundia in Serenje
Fri 26 Mar. 2010, 04:00 CAT
THE Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has urged District Agriculture Coordinators (DACOs) to sensitise farmers on how to effectively dry their maize because the agency shall not purchase a crop which has high moist content.
In an interview on Wednesday after the FRA delegation, which included Ministry of Works and Supply director of buildings Whytone Ngulube and Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives (MACO) chief agriculture economist in
"We have specifications in maize market, so I am urging the extension officers to advise farmers on how to store their maize so that we don't buy under-grade maize and that is non-negotiable," he said. "We will only accept grade maize with a maximum of 12.5 moist."
charge of agribusiness and trade Hargreaves Sikwibele, toured one of the eight sheds being constructed by a Chinese firm Camcon International in Serenje, FRA executive director Dr Anthony Mwanaumo said the agency would not purchase maize whose moisture content would be above 12.5 per cent.
He urged the leadership in Serenje to ensure that farmers were engaged in the drying and storing of their maize so that only pure quality was sold to the agency.
"I have noticed that farmers are just drying their maize on the road sides, DACO should sensitise them (farmers)," he said.
And Dr Mwanaumo said FRA had recorded a post-harvest loss of 0.7 per cent during the past farming season.
"The international post-harvest losses accepted is 0.2 per cent, so we are way below that and we hope that the construction of the new sheds will help reduce post harvest losses," he said.
Dr Mwanaumo added that the new sheds, which were being constructed, would not only reduce post-harvest losses but also improve the grain quality.
He said the appointment of warehouse managers was also linked to loss of maize.
"We sign contracts and when there is loss of maize, we don't re-engage them. We deduct from the warehouse manager's money, so the losses to the agency are minimal," Dr Mwanaumo said.
He also assured that security concerns would be addressed before the sheds were commissioned. And Ngulube urged the contractors to adhere to the country's buildings standards. He urged Camco International to build strong sheds.
"I also want to appeal to them to ensure that the materials such as the blocks and concretes are tested before being used because if we find that the materials do not conform to our standards, we are going to demolish the buildings," Ngulube warned.
"If something goes wrong, we will be partly to blame, so follow the designs so that the (initial plan) does not change."
Ngulube urged the Chinese contractors to also conform to the local labour laws and regulations.
"Tell everybody who you will employ to work hard," he said.
And Sikwibele said the sheds were being constructed at the right time when the country had projected a bumper harvest.
"Post harvest losses has been a big problem for our ministry (MACO), this infrastructure is important especially that there is a trend in the whole country of increased production of maize," he said.
Sikwibele added that there was need to invest in infrastructure in order to secure crops.
Earlier on Wednesday, FRA also visited Chisamba shed in Chibombo district which would be able to store 12,083 metric tonnes of maize with its completion date set for May while the other shed visited was the Kapiri Mposhi one.
The construction of Kapiri Mposhi shed has reached an advanced stage and is expected to be completed in April with its storage capacity expected to be 9,733.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, ANTHONY MWANAUMO, DACO, FRA, HARGREAVES SIKWIBELE, MAIZE, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND COOPERATIVES
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