The Ministry of Agriculture in Nakonde District, Muchinga Province has urged farmers to take advantage of post-harvest training programmes being conducted in various agricultural camps across the district
Nakonde Agricultural Officer Purity Wasamumu said climate change affects all agricultural production and requires farmers to adapt.
Ms Wasamumu said officers are training farmers in modern technologies and producers should adopt the practices without delay as it will improve their yields going forward.
“With the modern technologies that the officers are training, farmers should adopt them and not leave them behind because this is what will help us have a better harvest from now on,” she said.
The agricultural officer was speaking in an interview with the Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) at her office today.
And Senior Agricultural Officer Jesse Chama explained that camp extension officers were currently conducting trainings in post-harvest technologies at camp level.
Mr Chama stated that the training covers harvesting techniques, winnowing, cleaning and storage.
He said proper storage facilities were critical to reducing post-harvest losses among small-scale farmers.
He noted that the polythene-lined bags were suitable for storing most grains and offer better protection compared to chemical pesticides.
Mr Chama added that chemical pesticides require a waiting period before produce can be utilized, whereas the recommended storage bags allow immediate use.
“Farmers are being advised to use bags with polythene inside for storage instead of ordinary bags, which are not expensive and can be managed by small-scale farmers,” Mr Chama said.
He further stated that adoption of the recommended practices will strengthen food security and increase household income.
