By Austine Patrice Kachilika

Mzimba, March 21, Mana: Agriculture Service Committee chairperson for M’mbelwa District Council, Paul Chombo, says most farmers in Mzimba District who practiced climate smart agriculture (CSA) in their fields are eyeing bumper harvest despite a dry spell that occurred during the 2023/2024 growing season.

Chombo was speaking on Wednesday in the area of Traditional Authority Kampingo Sibande during a field day visit themed ‘Promoting climate resilient technologies for increased agricultural productivity and enhanced nutrition security’.

He said although the district experienced dry spells over a period of 21 days, some farmers were still able to mitigate its impacts through CSA practices, such as crop diversification, moisture retention, livestock production and drip irrigation.

“We cannot deny the fact that adverse weather conditions have hindered agriculture in most parts of the district and the whole country at large; however, some farmers have managed to sail through the disaster by practicing integrated approaches that have enhanced their crop productivity,” he said.

“Today's field inspection has shown that if all of us could practice crop diversification, embrace drip irrigation, practice irrigation and grow fast maturing and drought resilient crops, climate change impacts on agricultural productivity will be history,” he added.

Director of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources for M’mbelwa District Council, Beatrice Mbakaya, urged farmers continue with CSA practices and urged others who have not yet adopted it to do so in order to improve agricultural productivity in their fields.

One of the farmers practicing CSA, Mervis Soko, said she was expecting a bumper crop harvest after she followed CSA practices.