Govt urges crop diversification amid rainfall concerns

Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development has urged farmers in areas expected to receive below-normal rainfall to diversify crops and adopt drought-tolerant varieties to minimise potential production losses during the 2026/27 farming season.

The ministry’s spokesperson Salome Gangire advised farmers to incorporate sorghum, millet, groundnuts, pigeon peas and cowpeas into their farming systems instead of heavily depending on maize.

She said: “The priority is to ensure that weather information does not remain a technical forecast, but is translated into clear, timely and actionable agricultural advice that farmers can use to make informed decisions before and throughout the planting season.”

Gangire said government is working with the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services and agricultural extension development officers to translate weather forecasts into practical and district-specific farming advice.

She said the ministry is using community meetings, farmer field schools, demonstration plots, community radio stations and frontline extension workers to reach farmers.

Meanwhile, agricultural expert and Peacock Seeds director Felix Jumbe has recommended drought-tolerant maize varieties of PCK10, PCK-MH30 and CAP9001 for areas expecting below-normal rainfall.

The ministry has urged farmers to continue following short-term weather advisories, noting that seasonal forecasts indicate general rainfall patterns but cannot determine the exact timing and distribution of rainfall in individual localities.

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