The Regadio do Baixo Limpopo (RBL) foresees an additional production of 35 thousand tons of rice in the current agricultural season (2021/22).

This production will be achieved in an area of 5500 hectares, which is already plowed and sown, and an average yield of 6.5 tons per hectare is expected. In total, 13,600 hectares of arable land are prepared for the current agricultural season for various crops, with emphasis on cereals, vegetables, tubers and legumes.

Meanwhile, an intermediate meeting was held last week, in the district of Chongoene, to take stock of the first phase of the 2021/22 agricultural campaign, which brought together the provincial agricultural sector, the RBL, producers and the three companies that promote rice, namely Wambao, LianFeng and Limpopo Food Industries (LIA). The meeting aimed to identify the needs that can contribute to the increase of production and productivity levels.

According to Rogério Manhaussele, spokesperson for the meeting, quoted by Notícias, the prospects for the next harvest are positive, because "97 percent of the approximately 13,600 hectares planned to receive crops are already sown, which rekindles hopes for good production, especially of rice.

Visiting rice producers in the Ponela block, in the RBL, the Xai-Xai district administrator, Carlos Buchile, spoke of the need to increase the production of certified seeds to meet the needs of small local farmers in improving their productivity.

Administrator Buchile, who visited the irrigated area as part of the monitoring and evaluation of the Sustenta project, said that agriculture is one of the main axes to guarantee food security for the populations, which is why it is important to join public and private efforts to fight hunger and poverty in families.

He also stressed that, in the province, the Regadio do Baixo Limpopo constitutes a granary in the production of this cereal. "The rice produced in this region, besides being commercialized locally, has been serving other points of the country, highlighting the city and province of Maputo," he stressed.