Tuesday, March 19, 2024

K30.8 million released to finance war against army worms

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The Ministry of Finance has released K30.8 million to assist in the fight against army worms and help restore the smooth progress of the current agriculture season.

Media and Public Relations Officer Chileshe Kandeta said part of the  K24.8 million has been channeled through the Ministry of Agriculture and K6 million through the Disaster Mitigation & Management Unit (DMMU) in the Office of the Vice President.

Commenting on the crisis that has ravaged many parts of the country, Finance Minister Felix Mutati has said, “army worms are a threat to economic diversification because they are adversely affecting agriculture development which is at the core of the initiative.”

“We will crash the army worms and their cohorts with ferocious intensity to ensure that the country remains on course with agriculture and food security programs,” charged the Minister.

Mr. Mutati is also scheduled to visit Kafue tomorrow Saturday to assess the extent of the problem in the district.

The Minister will also take time to inspect the site for a new toll gate in Shimabala area.

On Thursday , President Edgar Lungu was in Kitwe and reaffirmed governments support to areas affected by army worms and stock borers.

14 COMMENTS

  1. And the fat minister of eating oh I meant agriculture, still has her job and has no manners to resign for this failure. Pf are all dogs.

  2. Only change will reach the intended target! When you have termites for hands, everything those hands touch will be utterly destroyed! CNP!

  3. Great Decision Hon. Minister Of Finance. Step in the right direction. We appreciate your passion and effort to help create a better Zambia.

  4. The problem of army and fall worms is a very big issue. It concerns everyone. We are talking about armies of the pest spanning kilometres and as dense as 1,100 per square meter march through fields, destroying entire crops and capable of destroying from 10 to over 70 percent of the Zambia staple food (maize). With crop damage in the Copperbelt province having reached alarming levels, the pest has already attacked at least half of the country’s 10 provinces by last week. With about 90,000 hectares having been affected so far and some maize fields actually been completely wiped out, its a hard lesson to lesson to learn that; we need more investment in preventative measures.

  5. Indeed such investment and more needed for preventative, research and control of the pest considering that Agriculture makes up 20 percent contribution to the economy as Gross Domestic Product (GDP

  6. Knowing that maize output last year rose 9.7 percent to 2.87 million metric tons with prices increasing by 20 percent in December 2016 compared to 12 months earlier. This means if the Pest damage rises just by 11percent, we are talking about losing more than 300,000 metric tonnes of maize output this year.

  7. K30.8 Million will go a long way to tackle the problem. Actually more funding is needed for the Plant Protection Unit at the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute. They have done a commendable job so far in diagnosing and prescribing very useful measures in dealing with this complex challenge which has many dimensions.

  8. This mater has a character that we can’t completely relate or attribute to our national leaders. Army worms are a creation of God for a very vital purpose in biodiversity sustenance. Its food for birds and a variety of insects among other living organism, which in turn aid the production of high quality and yield of our fruits, vegetables and grains. Amy worms are key to ecological integrity. They need to be kept to levels below economic threshold. That’s why I disagree with the idea of eradication or divine intervention being proposed by many other sections of society, for tackling this wicked problem.

  9. Pest control and management is the key word. Lack of good stewardship of the ecosystem by human beings has greatly contributed to the problem. Let’s take the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategy as our weapon. Let’s rethink our current agronomic practices. Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) is another key word that needs attention. Policy and political will are also vital. We need also to diversify our staple food.

  10. Maize eventually will prove not only, expensive to grow but also, difficulty in the long run, due to its vulnerability to climate change high cost of production. Crops like cassava and rice are not a choice crop for these worms. We have both a challenge and great opportunity before us. No blame game. We are all part of the problem and solution. Zambia is a great country with brilliant people; we will rise to be a beacon of hope and light to Africa and the rest of the world.

  11. What we are being challenged with here is an episodic catastrophe akeen to a locust invasion. In this age and era government should have in place appropriate contingency mitigation response solutions. This is not the time to ask how many ministries does it take to change a light bulb, i note that the dispensation of funds for the same problem is divided between three ministries without clear cut elaboration of role. Why would the Vice presidents office be involved when really in the modern world quick response mandates that the military or the like is more capable of containment from the air or ground? in the long run the onus is on the ministry of agriculture assess and project potential crises and propose appropriate future immediate responses, This is not about Dora but rather…

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