SIMUUSA

By SYLVIA MWEETWA-
THE GOVERNMENT has emphasised that research and agriculture extensions are key to the development  of the  sector and  contribute  to the food basket of the nation.
Agriculture and Livestock Minister Wybur  Simuusa said research was key to improved maize production  considering  the  continued  climatic changes Zambia and the World was faced with.
Speaking in Mkushi when he opened the Mkushi  District and  Agriculture Show last week, Mr Simuusa said  agriculture  remained the key sector of Zambia’s economy and that it was for this reason it was encouraging growing other crops to meet the  growing challenges of  food prices.
In a speech ready for him by Community, Mother and Child  Deputy Minister Ingrid Mpande, Mr Simuusa emphasised  that Government would continue to support research programmes in  agriculture which were key to the growth of the sector.
The minister said Government was currently proposing the decentralisation of the agriculture sector as a means of  bringing services close to its people including small-scale farmers who are key partners.
He encouraged farmers to seriously consider engaging in other  methods of  farming considering the changes  in rain pattern  and also  to diversify  in other  crops  such as  millet, wheat, cassava, among others crops.
He said  Zambia  would  only succeed  in fighting poverty if it  increased  its  agriculture production and that  Government increased  the  number  of beneficiary from 900,000 small  scale farmers  to  one million.