TRY IRRIGATION, FARMERS URGED
FARMERS should begin to use other methods of farming such as irrigation because the country’s climatic conditions allows the crops to grow year round, SARO Agro Industrial Limited Sales and Service Engineer, William Bulaya, has said.
Mr Bulaya said this therefore called for change to the narrative that crops could only be grown during the rainy season.
This, he said at the just ended seventh edition of the AgriTech Expo in Chisamba, would support the country to attain sustained food security.
“Irrigation has a pivotal role in food security considering the climate change situation affecting the country,” Mr Bulaya said.
He explained that it was for this reason that SARO designed irrigation systems to help the farmers irrigate their crops year round, with the special focus on the small-scale farmers.
“We are exhibiting at this year’s AgriTech Expo to showcase some of the equipment our small-scale farmers can actually use to do their gardening and we are encouraging farmers to do away with the narrative that you can only grow crops in the rain season our climate conditions favors us to grow year round,” Mr Bulaya said.
He said the company had observed that some farmers lacked information about what irrigation was and the equipment they may need to do their gardening.
Mr Bulaya said such events offered an opportunity for farmers to learn on what irrigation was and the type of equipment they may need.
“We have many outreach programmes that we do as SARO Agro Industrial and besides that we have branches across the country so we are not just a Lusaka-based company.
“We recently opened a branch in Mongu this was as a result of the demand of the small-scale farmers with the introduction of the cashew nut project so we thought it wise we should have a branch there,” he said.
Mr Bulaya indicated that they try by all means to ensure that they provide the necessary services to the small-scale farmers within their localities.
In order to reach out to the farmers, he said, the company works with key players in the agriculture sector such as the Zambia National Union of Farmers to add value to the sector.