Farming inputs for the 2007-2008 farming season will soon start being dispatched to various parts of the country in readiness for the coming farming season.
Livingstone district commissioner Francis Chika disclosed this when he officiated at the launch of the alternative livelihood programme at Mahululo programme against malnutrition satellite yesterday.
Mr Chika said government was committed to ensuring timely distribution of farming inputs to enhance food security in the country.
Mr Chika called on the district agriculture and cooperatives coordinators to start sensitizing farmers in the area on what type of seed to buy to suit the changing weather patterns.
He noted that early maturing varieties were more preferable for the southern region as the rain period had drastically reduced in recent years.
And in another development, Mr Chika called on Zambia wild life authority to seriously address the issue of elephants as they were destroying people’s crops in the district and endangering people’s lives.
The district commissioner suggested that there was need to crop the animals which include crocodiles as their population had swelled significantly posing a danger to people’s lives.
He called on the authority to sensitise people on how best to handle the animals to minimize crop damage and to save lives.
ZANIS
This is development, farming inputs being distributed in good time. In the past, I am told, basal dressing for crops such as maize is said to have been distributed in as late as February, a time when top dressing would normally have been applied already! It was scandolous to say the least.
One would not be far off the mark to call Zambians “docile” people. Why we stuck to leaders killing our agriculture is a serious mystery. We’ve got to give Mr Mwanawasa credit because it is due to him. He has done so well and we are seeing many sectors of the economy doing well or being revived for the betterment of our locals. Everybody believing in meriting the deserving should take their hats off for the incumbent president. We need effiency in our system.