By Wanangwa Tembo:
Farmers have been urged to embrace new technologies for increased output.
Chairperson for the Agriculture Service Committee at Kasungu District Council, Bryson Phiri, said research could also help prop up crop production.
He was speaking on Wednesday during a crop field day organised by students from China Agricultural University at Lisasadzi Rural Training College in the district.
“Our extension workers do their best to demonstrate to farmers how best they can approach farming nowadays by emphasising the adoption of new technologies amidst climate change.
“But it is concerning that some farmers do not see the need to change. They are stuck with the traditional ways of doing things, which have always failed to transform their lives,” Phiri said.
He said farming was a combination of science and business, warning that ignoring any of the two components would be disastrous to farmers, no matter how hard they work in their gardens.
The students organised the field day to showcase their crop density and intercropping field trials under the science and technology backyard strategy introduced by their university.
Under the initiative, farmers and researchers work together in seeking means to address agricultural challenges including the problem of low yield.
One of the students, Sylvester Chalowa Panyani, emphasised the importance of agricultural research in achieving food security at household level.
“We have to learn from countries that are doing well in agriculture and China is one of those countries.
“But before we implement what we learn from there, we need to experiment with those approaches to see which ones can work in the Malawian context,” he said.
Programmes manager for Kasungu Agricultural Development Division, Yusuf Shaibu, asked students to share results of their research with agricultural authorities so that they are shared with farmers.
He said field days were important platforms through which farmers could learn by observing results of new approaches and technologies.
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