Plans to put up central tobacco nurseries in Eastern Province have failed

Plans to put up central nurseries to assist tobacco farmers in Eastern Province have failed.
The idea of central nurseries was devised by EFAZ, the Eastern Fodya Association of Zambia, following the drying up of streams where farmers used to fetch water for their tobacco nurseries.
But EFAZ Chairperson Franklin Mwale says that the association started receiving lists of farmers interested in growing tobacco this farming season late and could not determine the volumes of seed to be prepared.
Instead, Mr. Mwale has now advised farmers to adopt the mother bed system when preparing their nurseries.
Apart from tobacco companies withdrawing from Eastern Province, farmers are also facing a serious problem of water for their nurseries.
And Mr. Mwale says that EFAZ is happy that President Edgar Lungu split the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.
He explained that the Ministry of Agriculture will now be able to focus more on crop growing and determine which crops give farmers more income.