Eastern Province to record reduced yield

A preliminary crop assessment for Chipata shows a reduction in some crop yields in the 2015/2016 farming season.
The expected maize production for Chipata is about 2.2 million metric tonnes compared to last farming season when the district produced about 2.6 million metric tonnes of maize.
And Chipata District Agriculture Coordinator, Michael Ngulube has attributed the reduction to late rains and the dry spell that the district has been experiencing during the rainy season.
He added that the cultivated area of maize last season was about 108,000 hectares but has reduced to about 100,000 hectares this farming season.
And the production of groundnuts is also expected to reduce from about 577,000 metric tonnes last season to about 371,000 metric tonnes this farming season.
The expected production of Burley tobacco this year has reduced to 962 metric tonnes from slightly over 1,000 metric tonnes in the last farming season while Virginia Tobacco has also seen a reduction from 844 metric tonnes last year to 550 metric tonnes this year.
The production of beans is also expected to reduce from about 9,500 metric tonnes last farming season to about 5,700 metric tonnes this farming season.
Meanwhile, the Soya Bean production for this year is expected to increase to about 166,900 metric tonnes from last season’s about 71,900 metric tonnes.
Mr. Ngulube however, says the actual crop assessment will be produced by the Central Statistics Office later in the year.