Zambia has suffered a 31.1 percent drop in wheat production during the 2005/06 farming season though the country has recorded a 64.5 percent improvement in maize production, local media cited Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana as saying on Sunday.

The country's wheat output during the season stands at 93,958 tons against a normal turnout of 150,000 tons, the minister revealed while announcing the crop output for this season.

The fall in wheat production implies that Zambia, whose annual national consumption is about 250,000 tons, will have to import close to 200,000 tons of the commodity to meet the demand, according to The Post newspaper.

Sikatana did not explain why the country saw a decrease of wheat production especially at a time when maize, the staple food the southern African country, recorded a 64.5 percent rise in output, which now stands at 1,424,439 tons from 866,187 tons during the 2004/05 farming season.

The minister said the improved maize production was due to the favorable rains during the season which boosted average yields per hectare from 1.04 tons to 1.82 tons.

Smaller farmers have continued dominating maize production, accounting for 78 percent of production, while the commercial farmers produced the remaining 22 percent, according to the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the country has also recorded deficits in tobacco, potatoes, seed cotton and soya beans production, the minister said, adding that output of cassava, widely consumed in rural areas, however improved to over one million tons.

"The total food surplus this year, when converted into maize- meal equivalent, amounts to 413,064 tons," Sikatana said.

Source: Xinhua