Notwithstanding hailstorms that were encountered in some areas and resulted in some crops being entirely damaged, the Northern Province anticipates a rise in the production of important crops like corn.
However, because to the outbreak of the Cassava Brown Streak Virus Disease, which severely affected the Kaputa, Nsama, and Mporokoso Districts, the Province is predicted to record low cassava production.
The early distribution of inputs under FISP and the favorable weather circumstances, according to provincial agriculture coordinator SYLVESTER NYENDWA, are responsible for the high yield.
He claimed that the province’s other crops, including as soyabeans, mixed beans, sunflower, and groundnuts, are anticipated to produce significant yields.
But, Mr. NYENDWA claimed that due to a protracted dry period that occurred in February, most crops in the Nsama and Kaputa Districts are projected to face a drop of roughly 20%.
When his department recently acquired 30 motorcycles for extension officers throughout the Province, he made this revelation.
Chief KAPUTA of the Tabwa people, who oversees the Itabwa Cassava Project, also commented on the low yields of cassava, saying that a long-term solution, such as the cultivation of seedlings, is required to prevent similar catastrophes.
The 2000 cuttings that the government provided earlier this year would only be harvested in 2014, according to him, and as a result, the villagers who depend on cassava may have to switch to maize meal, which the majority of them did not grow.
