BUBANZA March 16th (ABP) – More than 47,000 tons of maize and rice are expected to be harvested for cropping season A in Bubanza province (north-west of Burundi), the director of the Provincial Office of the Environment, of Agriculture and Livestock (BPEAE), Mr. Emmanuel Ndikubaganwa said.
BPEAE Bubanza data show that, for cropping season A, maize was grown on 5,445.5 hectares, of which 2,543 hectares belong to farmers who have pooled their land. For that crop, the expected production is estimated at 16336.5 tons.
As for rice, it was grown on an area of 6276 hectares and the expected harvest amounts to 31380 tons.
The BPEAE director indicates that this harvest is considered good thanks to the chemical fertilizers which were available in sufficient quantity and on time. It is also thanks to the farmers who understood the importance of pooling arable land for a single crop, as well as the fact that each village has a radiation field, serving as a reference for the surrounding inhabitants, he said.
The director of BPEAE took the opportunity to call on those farmers to properly manage and preserve the harvest while avoiding speculative traders who buy it on the field at low prices. And this, he says, in order to avoid the pre-harvest shortage of cropping season B.