JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
Government owes K32.7 million to farmers who sold their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in Katete district in the Eastern province.
Council Secretary Wamulume Aongola said this when he presented a status report on the outstanding maize payments to the Eastern Province Development Coordinating Committee meeting in Chipata yesterday.
Mr Aongola said only K12.8 million was paid out of K45.5 million that was owed to farmers in the district.
Mr Aongola said the district produced 2,317,360 by 50 kilo gram bags of maize in the 2013/2014 farming season which he said was an increase from 1,520,416 by 50 kilo gram bags produced in the 2012/13 farming season.
He also said that the district received 53,558 by 50kg bags of D compound out of which 5,417 was distributed to the farmers for the 2014/15 farming season.
The Council Secretary said the district had a total of 9,004 bags of fertilizer which was left over from the previous farming season out of the targeted 53,553 by 50 kilo gram bags of maize.
He noted that the balance of 44,554 by 50 kilo gram bags of fertilizer were yet to be received.
Meanwhile, over K13.5 million is owed to farmers who sold their maize to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) in Nyimba district.
District Commissioner George Phiri said government paid K4.4 million out of the K18 million owed to farmers in the district.
Mr Phiri said 257,819 by 50 kilo gram bags of maize were supplied to FRA by farmers in the district.
He also noted that 147,819 by 50 kilo gram bags were dispatched while the remaining stock was 110,000 bags.
The District Commissioner also disclosed that Nyimba received all the 1,306 metric tons of D compound and maize seed that was allocated to the district under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) for the 2014/2015 farming season.
Mr Phiri however noted that the district had not yet started receiving urea whose allocation was 1,264 metric tons.
He said that 12,430 small scale farmers are scheduled to benefit from the input.
Meanwhile, Mr Phiri said K517, 650 was released for the purchase of groundnuts adding that 203,000 kilo grams were bought from farmers in the district.
Mr Phiri said this was expected to improve household incomes among farmers stating that 420 farmers would be supplied with sorghum and groundnuts in the 2014/15 farming season.
