National News

‘Mixed seasonal rainfall to affect crop yield’

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fewsnet) has predicted a low crop yield this year due to mixed seasonal rainfall that has affected most parts of the country.

In its published report for January to May 2018, Fewsnet highlights that below-average rainfall has been mostly experienced across the country, contributing to moisture deficits and poor vegetation conditions in the Central and Southern regions.

Maize crop attacked by fall armyworms

The report comes days after Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) president Alfred Kapichira Banda told The Nation in an interview that as farmers, they have already declared low harvests this year due to combined effects of fall army worms and the dry spell in some parts of the country.

Banda said in terms of the dry spells, farmers must resort to moving to dambo areas and plant early maturing crops like cassava and sweet potatoes that will help cushion them.

However, despite the report portraying a negative outlook on crop production, it highlights that people are still enjoying surplus food that they produced during the previous farming season when the country produced 3.2 million metric tonnes (MT) of maize.

Reads the report: “Nonetheless, mostly favourable food security conditions are prevailing across the country. Most households are still consuming food from their own production because of last year’s above-average harvests.

“Poorer households without food are easily accessing food through incomes obtained by agricultural labour which is readily available in a season where there is less competition for labour and wages have remained high.”

Though such scenarios are likely to occur, the report states there is likely minimal impacts on the outcome in districts such as Nsanje, Balaka, Chikwawa and Mwanza once planned and funded assistance starts to trickle in.

In the 2016/17 farming season, maize production jumped by about 35.9 percent to 3.2 million MT compared to 2.3 million MT in the 2015/16 season.

Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development spokesperson Osborne Tsoka told The Nation last week that approximately 270 000 hectares of rainfed maize, sorghum and millet have been affected by fall armyworms while 12 percent has been affected by dry spells.

He was, however, quick to rule out if there will be any deficit or surplus in the current farming season as assessments are still underway on the combined effects of the two.

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