Luanda, Oct 13 (Prensa Latina) Angola boosts today the production of rice through a development program and technical advice, with the purpose of reducing imports of an item of which the country buys annually about 400,000 tons.

The national director of Forestry and spokesman of the Agricultural Campaign 2024-2025, Domingos Veloso, said that the production of the grain has already exceeded 40,000 tons, but it is necessary to continue increasing these results.

He highlighted the soil and water conditions for this endeavor, so it is necessary to better prepare the families dedicated to the agricultural activity, in order to obtain better yields.

“The Ministry of Agriculture has a program to increase rice and wheat productions, and is prepared to provide all the necessary technical assistance so that companies and families can engage in this activity,” Veloso said.

He told the Jornal de Angola that rice and wheat flourish in almost all the country, but mainly in the central-southern provinces.

Last June, Angola and South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Rice Belt project for cooperation expand this crop in Angolan territory, but there is still a long way to go for this project to bear fruit.

As part of the 2024-2025 Campaign, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will support 1,182,447 farmer families, about 38 percent of the more than three million registered in the country.

About six million hectares of land are being prepared for this stage, of which 5.4 million are destined for family farming, and 11,745 tons of seeds and 50,623 tons of fertilizers will be available nationwide.

Several crops are in the government’s interest, mainly rice, wheat, corn and cassava.

Published Date: October 13, 2024