Survey projects good harvest this year
Malawi will this year produce 3,220,712 metric tons of maize. Results of the first round of 2016/2017 agricultural production estimates survey has revealed.
The national maize requirement of Malawi is about 3 million metric tons.
A press statement released by the Ministry of Agriculture, irrigation and Water Development today indicates an increase in production of 35.9 percent as compared to 2015/16 final round estimate of 2,369,493 metric tons.
On rice production, the survey has indicated that Malawi is expected to go up by 41.5 percent. Production of sweet potatoes is projected to increase by 27.6 percent. Millet and sorghum production will increase by 118.6 and 79.3 percent respectively.
The results also show that production of Cotton is expected to go up by 7.6 percent while groundnuts, beans and pigeon peas are expected to increase by 22.2, 15.0 and 19.7 percent, respectively.
However, production of major cash crops such as tobacco is expected to decrease by 36.6 percent and wheat production is projected to drop by 6.4 percent
In terms of livestock, the population of cattle has increased from 1,470,895 to 1,508,299 representing 2.5 percent increase as compared to the final round for the 2015/16 agricultural season. The populations of goats and pigs have also increased by 5.0 percent and 14.6 percent.
Overall, fish production has increased by 10.0 percent.
The survey is conducted in three rounds every year with the first round conducted from September of the preceding year to January of the current year.
The objective of the survey is to assess the country’s agricultural production to inform planning and policy direction for the nation. The survey includes all agricultural commodities,that is;crops, livestock and fisheries.
