CHIEF CHIPEPO BEMOANS DELAYED INPUT DISTRIBUTION

By Jessica Mwansa

IT IS difficult for our people to survive without proper farming and a good harvest and this is why it is important that the Government distributes farming inputs on time because these are key to a successful farming season, Chief Chipepo of the Tonga people of Southern Province has said.

Speaking to The Scoop, Chief Chipepo said it was difficult for him and his subjects to survive when inputs were delayed by the Government.

He said the distribution exercise had already delayed as inputs had not yet reached the intended beneficiaries in his chiefdom adding that the delay may affect their level of production.

 “What troubles us here most of the time are farming inputs. If we receive them on time, farmers are given time to prepare for the farming season which is near. We appeal to the Minister of Agriculture through the District Administration here to procure the farming inputs on time as we survive through farming. If we do not conduct farming activities, it is very difficult to survive and send our children to school,” the traditional leader said.

He said in the next farming season, the Government should consider the farmers by disbursing the farming inputs on time to allow them to prepare in good time.

“The level of production depends on the time of input distribution because farmers begin to plant when they receive their inputs. However, with the effect of climate change, late planting is risky as we do not know if we will have droughts or floods,’’ he said.

The traditional leader added that there was also a need to put in place measures to ensure that mealie meal prices were lowered through the provision of affordable farming inputs such as fertilizer to small scale farmers.

‘’The New Dawn Government must lower the price of fertilizer for small scale farmers if mealie meal prices are to be lowered and affordable even for the vulnerable farmers,’’ he said.

He said farmers in his chiefdom should also consider planting drought resistant crops which he said may lessen pressure considering the high demand for mealie meal in the country.

“Maize alone is not enough to lower the cost of mealie meal but venturing into crop diversification is one of the solutions to address high mealie meal prices,” he said.

He implored farmers to venture into millet and sorghum farming as a way of cushioning the high mealie meal prices on the market.