Dry-land maize producers awarded

The National Communal Dry-Land Maize Champion Farmer for this year was awarded to Lifasi Munsu from the Sibbinda constituency in the Zambezi Region.Munsu was awarded during a ceremony held last week at the Unam Multi-Purpose Centre in Katima Mulilo.Lukatezi Kulobone from the Linyati constituency, also in the Zambezi, was the runner-up for the National Communal Dry-Land Maize.Speaking at the event, the governor of the Zambezi Region, Lawrence Sampofu, congratulated the winners for their hard work. Sampofu further encouraged crop farmers in the Zambezi Region to consult the agricultural extension offices in their respective constituencies to get assistance and obtain expert advice on the types of seed and fertilisers that are suitable for their farming land. “We need to stop relying on neighbouring countries to feed us. The Zambezi Region has fertile soil and an abundance of water and could potentially serve as one of the bread baskets of Namibia providing food security for the country.”Meanwhile Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) vice-chairperson, Dr Marina Muller, said Namibia currently imports most of its white maize grains through formal markets to feed the nation. She assured the nation that progress has been made with various initiatives by the NAB and the agriculture ministry to improve the situation in terms of production and market regulation. “During the 2013/14 financial year Namibia imported 170 234 tonnes of white maize grains versus 36 694 tonnes produced locally. At that time it looked impossible that at some stage we may even reach 50% local production of what we consume.”She however said that four seasons later, in 2017, Namibia managed to produce 76 660 tonnes of white maize grains and imported only 50 483 tonnes. According to Muller this shows that the potential is high for Namibia to maximise production and reverse the situation so that the country becomes self-sufficient in maize grains.Reflecting on the event CEO of the NAB, Dr Fidelis Mwazi, highlighted the importance of smart agricultural methods and encouraged farmers, potential farmers and farmers unions in the Zambezi Region to take advantage of the climatic and soil conditions to maximise production in maize production. He further advised farmers to guard the market from forces that might affect Namibian grains access to the formal market.“Let us not allow illegal maize grains to enter the region in a perceived way that it is locally produced because it leads to the region's loss of credibility and capacity to market the produce”, he said.Since the establishment of the awards in 2008, the NAB annually hosts this event. The awards aim at encouraging producers to implement good farming practices in order to increase maize grain yield to ensure adequate produce for household consumption and surplus for the formal market. The competition is scored using several operational elements including tonnage produced, production methods used, and inputs application. Crop and labour management, marketing, financial management and record keeping are also taken into consideration. All dry-land maize producers from the five communal maize producing regions, the Zambezi, Kavango East, Kavango West, Otjozondjupa and Omaheke, can participate in the competition through their agricultural extension offices. The Zambezi Region is projected to harvest 6 000 tonnes of marketable maize grains from the 2017/18 cropping season. ELLANIE SMIT

Dry-land maize producers awarded

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

Please login to leave a comment

Dry-land maize producers awarded

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

Please login to leave a comment

Login