Malanje - Twenty thousand and 600 tons of rice were harvested in the municipality of Luquembo, during the 2023-2024 agricultural year.
Of this production, four 4,200 tons were harvested by family producers and 16,400 by the business sector, revealed this Monday, the municipal administrator of Luquembo, João Baptista da Costa.
According to the administrator, to reach this figure, three thousand and 500 hectares of land had been cultivated by family peasants and two thousand 798 by businessmen.
He pointed out that in the previous agricultural season, only 5,618 tonnes of the cereal had been harvested, of which 2,123 tonnes were harvested by peasant households and 3,495 tonnes by the business sector.
Regarding cassava, João Baptista da Costa said, without providing data from the business sector, that in the 2023-2024 agricultural year family farmers cultivated four thousand hectares of land, which allowed the harvest of 60 thousand tons of the tuber.
He indicated the companies Cart Agri, Planeta Verde and Marsiris as the main mentors of rice production and buyers in Luquembo, calling on them to continue to support peasants, especially in mechanization and fertilization, to stimulate increased production.
He said that the involvement of these companies in local production has supported the fight against hunger and poverty, since their participation contributes to the creation of jobs.
The municipality of Luquembo is located 180 kilometres from the city of Malanje and comprises the communes of Dombo-Wazanga, Capunda, Quimbango, Rimba and Cunga Palanga. It has an estimated population of more than 50 thousand people, mostly peasants. NC/PBC/DOJ
