Zambia has embarked on a farmer registration exercise to determine the number of farmers in the country and what type of enterprises they are engaged in, Times of Zambia reported Saturday.

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa announced Friday in Copperbelt Province that 30,000 farm households have since been registered in the province in the ongoing exercise.

He said in a speech read on his behalf by Vice President during the official opening of the Copperbelt Mining, Agriculture and Commercial Show that farmers should cooperate with extension officers currently conducting the exercise to ensure it is a success.

He promised to create an enabling environment for farmers so that the agriculture sector could grow and thus increase its contribution to the overall growth of the economy.

He said the Agriculture Ministry will be in a position to better service the farmers and help the private sector to target their farmers in the country.

The president said in this year's budget 37 billion kwacha ( about 9.25 million U.S. dollars) were allocated to irrigation on a large scale.

He urged the ministry to help the farmers through training demonstrations in order for them to take on irrigation farming.

He also called on the farmers to venture into fish farming as it is a profitable venture which contribute to better nutrition.

Mwanawasa urged the copper-producing province to diversify its economy by taking up farming in a big way as the link between agriculture and mining.

"Copperbelt is endowed with resources to develop both mining and agriculture. The mining sector provides a ready market for agricultural produce. The province can be self-sufficient in agriculture such as vegetables, fruits, poultry and dairy products like milk," said the president.

Source: Xinhua