By KENNEDY MUPESENI –

KITWE district is projected to contribute more than 52,000 tonnes of maize grain to the national food basket this harvest season, an increase of about 7,000 tonnes from the previous season.
Kitwe District Farmers Cooperative Union (KDFCU) chairperson Macdonald Mweemba said the district was likely to increase maize production because of early input distribution and the good rainfall pattern on the Copperbelt.
“We are likely to record a bumper harvest this farming season, we have about 400 cooperatives, clubs and associations  which will produce a minimum of 130 tonnes each. The rainfall on the Copperbelt and input distribution have been excellent,” Mr Mweemba said.
He said in an interview that farmers in Kitwe were ready to embrace the Government’s goal of economic diversification looking at the interest by residents to engage in agriculture.
He said farmers were taking advantage of the favourable rainfall pattern in the province to increase farmlands.
On the growing of other crops, Mr Mweemba said farmers in the area were eager to grow other crops but that lack of seed was a challenge.
“We were supposed to receive soya beans, groundnuts and beans in the 2015/2016 farming season under the Farmer Input Support Programme, but we only received inputs for maize,” he said.
Mr Mweemba also advised Government to prioritise the allocation of farm areas on the Copperbelt, especially in Kitwe.
“Farmers are not getting land, they are doing production under difficult conditions, they are simply squatters because they rent land.
“Land in Kitwe for example does not belong to chiefs but the city council, so it is difficult to get land,” he said.