Agriculture expert, Dr. Oliver Kandela Bulaya has […]

Agriculture expert, Dr. Oliver Kandela Bulaya has stated that Zambia as a country has sufficient seed and fertilizer to support increased agricultural production, but the high cost of inputs is keeping them beyond the reach of many smallholder farmers.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Dr. Bulaya noted that the country could achieve the 10 million metric tonnes maize target by increasing productivity on the same land currently being cultivated.

“It is achievable because the output from smallholder farmers is extremely low per unit area, and if we sustain effective extension service delivery, farmers can increase production levels and even go beyond 10 million metric tonnes within the same hectares,” he said.

Dr. Bulaya said low productivity was being driven by soil degradation, poor farming practices, inadequate soil testing and limited application of fertilizer by farmers.

“Farmers are not investing enough resources in soil testing and soil health, while fertilizer application is also minimal, so you cannot expect to get more from the minimal application of fertilizers,” he said.

 He said the cost of inputs is another major barrier because farmers are applying less fertilizer than required in an effort to spread the available inputs across larger areas.

“We are sufficient in seed and fertilizer as a country, but they are expensive beyond the reach of many smallholder farmers, which is why a larger number of farmers are dependent on FISP,” he said.

Dr. Bulaya said reducing the cost of seed and fertilizer can enable farmers to apply inputs more effectively and increase yields per hectare.

“If we lower the cost of these inputs, our farmers can utilize them effectively because currently some are applying less than four 50-kilogram bags of fertilizer per hectare just to cover a larger area,” he said.

He said effective extension services, climate-smart agriculture and better agronomic practices could significantly improve productivity, noting that farmers practicing conservation agriculture sustainably were already achieving higher yields.

 “Those who are doing conservation agriculture on a sustained basis are producing somewhere around four to six tonnes per hectare, and with good agronomic practices, higher yields are possible,” he said.

Dr. Bulaya further called for increased investment in irrigation and cheaper borehole development to reduce farmers’ dependence on rainfall and government support.

“With the available water sources and irrigation facilities, we can increase production, but we need to make irrigation accessible and lower the cost of sinking boreholes so that farmers can become more self-reliant,” he said.

Article by Philip Sinkala