Sat, 31 Dec 2016 11:39:37 +0000
By ROGERS KALERO
COPPERBELT province has received 2,000 litres of the pesticides which Government has procured to stop the army worms which have ravaged the province and other parts of the country, Copperbelt Province Minister Bowman Lusambo has said.
Mr Lusambo said, of the 2,000 litres of the pesticides, which the province has received, Kitwe was likely to receive a bigger share because it was the most affected districts in the province.
The provincial minister was speaking yesterday at the Kitwe District Commissioner’s (DC) office when he held a meeting with farmers to assure them that all of them would receive the pesticides to stop the army worms.
“I would like to assure you that every farmer in Kitwe is going to receive this pesticides to stop the ravaging army worms. Copperbelt has received 2,000 litres of the pesticide and Kitwe will receive the biggest share because it is the most affected. Kitwe and Lufwanyama are the most affected. “President Lungu is deeply concerned about these army worms which have ravaged the fields of farmers on the Copperbelt and this is why he decided to treat it with the urgency it deserves. Let me, however, caution you, not to sell these pesticides which you are being given,” Mr Lusambo said.
The meeting with Kitwe small scale farmers was attended by Wusakile Member of Parliament (MP) Pavyuma Kalobo, Kwacha MP Joe Malanji, Kamfinsa MP Elario Musonda and Nkana MP Alexander Chiteme.
And Acting District Commissioner (DC) and District Agricultural Coordinator Raphael Muyaule said the demand for the pesticides from the farmers in the district was overwhelming because their district was ravaged by the army worms.
Dr. Muyaule said the district had given out 50 bottles of pesticides, out of which two small scale farmers were share one bottle which covers two hectares.
“One bottle covers two hectares and so if they share one bottle, each farmer would cover one hectare. The pesticides we have given them today will go a long way to deal with army worms,” Dr Muyaule said.
And Veteran Politician, Francis ‘Kasusu’ Chipasha told the Copperbelt minister to ensure that those getting the pesticides were not selling it, but putting it to good use.
Mr Chipasha also urged Government to look at ways of reducing the price of mealie-meal because if left unchecked, it could make the PF unpopular.
“I like President Lungu because of his humility, but the problem is some young man in his government are not doing a good job. They are not caring about the people who voted for PF. I’m telling you Mr Minister, if you don’t work on reducing mealie-meal prices, it will cause us problems,” he said.
