Agriculture Ministry estimates 1.1 million tonnes of maize surplus

The Ministry of Agriculture has estimated that the country will have 1.1 million tonnes maize surplus in this year’s harvest, which is much higher, compared to the past few years.

Malawi has been harvesting an average of 3,141,845 million metric tonnes of maize in its farming seasons over the past years, according to the ministry.

“This year’s harvest compared to the past five years’ average harvest shows that there is a 43per cent increase, which is giving us confidence that this year’s farming season has been extraordinary,” said Lungu.

He added that the ministry would soon do final calculations on food balance sheet and come up with final tonnage that can be exported to other countries.

“The food balance sheet calculation is the one that will assist our ministry to control an amount of maize to be exported to avoid selling more against the required food basket,” he said.