ZAMBIA EXPECTS SHARPLY REDUCED MAIZE CROP
Zambia's marketed maize production will
probably fall to less than 630,000 tonnes in 1986/87 (May-Apr),
from 918,000 last year, because of poor rainfall in major
producing areas, Agriculture Minister Kingsley Chinkuli said.
    He told Parliament that in the southern provinces the
harvest would be over 50 pct down on the level in the previous
marketing year.
    "The nation would be lucky to produce over seven mln bags
(630,000 tonnes) of maize this year," he stated.
    Chinkuli added that Zambia was setting up an irrigation
fund with Canadian aid to lessen the effects of poor rainfall.
 REUTER
