Centre for Agricultural Transformation executive director Macleod Nkhoma has called on farmers to adopt climate-smart agriculture technologies to enhance food security.
Speaking during a farmer field day held on Saturday at the organisation’s Smart-Farm at Natural Resources College in Lilongwe, he said farmers who embraced modern innovations are getting bumper yields.
Said Nkhoma: “We have been promoting smart-climate agriculture for the past five years.
“Smart-climate agriculture begins with understanding soil conditions to support healthy crop growth. It also encourages crop diversification which ensures that if one crop fails, farmers can still harvest others.”
Ministry of Agriculture deputy director of crops development Osborne Tsoka commended farmers and stakeholders for embracing innovation amid climate shocks.
“Currently, Malawi’s average maize yield stands at about 2.3 metric tonnes per hectare and with the technologies demonstrated here, yields of up to eight metric tonnes per hectare are possible,” he said.
On her part, Global Action to End Smoking country director
Candida Nakhumwa expressed satisfaction with the progress farmers are making in shifting from tobacco to high-demand crops.
“There is a growing market for soya beans due to rising demand for livestock and fish feed and our partnership with Centre for Agricultural Transformation is helping farmers capitalise on these opportunities,” she said.
One of the farmers who attended the event, Emanuel Yendemani Mwale from Madzo Cooperative in Madisi in Dowa, said the farming technologies helped him increase yields.
The event was held under the theme ‘Climate-resilient agricultural technologies and crop diversification for sustainable food security’.
Participants learned modern technologies such as the use of weather stations to get information on how to plan their farming calendar.
