Luanda - More than 200 thousand peasant families are being trained across the country, through Field Schools, with a view to increasing production levels and diversifying crops, the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, João Cunha, said on Tuesday, in Luanda.
João Cunha, who was spoking during the presentation of the program to promote agricultural production, the training of peasant families is essential for improving cultivation techniques and guaranteeing food self-sufficiency within rural communities.
He clarified that the new production techniques introduced by the Field Schools have to do with knowledge about agricultural production factors, reinforcement of agricultural and livestock productive capacities aimed at the introduction of drought-resistant crops, combating pests, management and animal health, as well as irrigation systems.
On the other hand, João Cunha made it known that ten medium-sized agricultural institutes are being rehabilitated, as well as the reformulation of their school curriculum, within the scope of the national production promotion program.
He also recalled that, at higher education level, there are six institutions with agricultural training, which could place more than eight thousand graduates in the job market, increasing the supply of technicians in this sector.
He also made it known that 442 staff are being recruited, with the number reaching up to 800 professionals in the sector.
The Secretary of State also considered justifying the investment in the training of staff in the agriculture and livestock sector for a greater investment in the areas and the contribution to the diversification of the country's economy.
Provision of means of production
For the current agricultural year, the Government made available more than two thousand units of motor cultivators and around 20 animal traction units for family farming, with a view to improving agricultural mechanization, which has two thousand and 500 units of tractors in operation.
During this period, a total of 19 thousand and 610 thousand tons of fertilizers were also purchased, of which five thousand and 760 tons were of the NPK12-24-12 type and 13 thousand and 850 tons of ammonium sulfate.
The supply capacity of fertilizers on the market is around 50 thousand tons, quantities considered still low, given the market's needs, according to the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, João Cunha.
According to the person responsible, the prospect is to increase the availability of this input to 120 or 250 thousand tons.
“To achieve the goals, we will need to improve the supply of fertilizers, to move from the current three kilos per hectare to using 10 kilos per hectare”, he highlighted.
In addition, the sector also supplied, for the 2023/2024 agricultural campaign, more than 162 thousand pieces of work equipment, 50% of which are hoes.
However, the source recalled that the agriculture sector has been contributing to the structure of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with an average of 6.6%, since 2018 to the present date. In 2023, the growth rate was 6.6%, with the same percentage expected this year. ASS/QCB/DOJ
