Kabompo District Commissioner Patrick Kasoka has said the area will have a bumper harvest despite the challenges of armyworms experienced during the 2021/22 farming season.
He was happy that Nyimba Investment was able to distribute inputs for the season way ahead of the planting season
He said this when Nyimba Investments Head-Sales and Marketing Willings Mulendema paid a courtesy call on him.
“As a district we are very grateful to you Nyimba Investments because we have benefited from your service. Despite the challenges of armyworms we are confident that we will have a bumper harvest because inputs have been delivered in good time,” he said.
Kabompo has 7,000 beneficiaries under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) and so far 5,750 have made their deposits. Mr Kasoka said most farmers have been encouraged to make their deposits after seeing that the inputs were in the district early.
Mr Kasoka also urged the farmers to sell their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) saying the floor price of K 150 per 50 kg of maize was lucrative. He said farmers should resist selling to briefcase buyers, as they were not profitable.
Mufumbwe District Agricultural Coordinator (DACO) Peter Chibizwa said he was happy with the rate at which the farmers were making their deposits. He said after the realisation that inputs were in Mufumbwe, most farmers speeded up the process of making their deposits and he was confident that in the next two weeks, all would have made their contributions.
Mr Chibizwa said despite the challenges of warehouse facilities, Nyimba has been able to bring all the quantities in the district.
“I am aware of the challenges of warehouse facilities and some of the inputs are stored in Mufumbwe but we are happy that you have managed to bring input in good time,” he said
He also said he was happy with the packaging of Nyimba fertiliser saying the company does not have underweight fertilisers.
Regional Manager Gideon Tembo said as a result of the shortage of storage facilities, the company would station 18 trucks to ferry inputs between Mufumbwe and Kabompo.
“Because of the shortage in terms of warehousing, we are going to station 18 trucks to ferry the inputs from Mufumbwe to here,” he said.
