The materialization of this productive investment forced the Royal Empire company to enter the scene, following a proposal from the Government of the Province of Benguela, supporting wheat producers with seeds and fertilizers.
In recent times, in the commune of Chicuma, 75 kilometers from the municipal headquarters of Ganda, the culture of large-scale wheat production, which dates back to 1960, has been revitalized within the communities. for adapting crop variables. There are fertile soils for the production of cereals, tubers, fruit plants and more.
It was with the conditions that mother nature provided to Ganda in mind that very encouraging productions were planned which, in a short space of time, the authorities believe would ‘flood’ the market with the product and, therefore, export the surplus, from the perspective to obtain foreign exchange for the country. But, to achieve this, producers consider it imperative to invest in access roads, which are quite degraded, according to the main producer of the cereal, Father Sabino Uanhica.
The materialization of this productive investment forced the Royal Empire company to enter the scene, following a proposal from the Government of the Province of Benguela, supporting wheat producers with seeds and fertilizers. Still for the undertaking, cereal producers also count on technical assistance support from the Agrarian Development Station. For the 2024/2025 agricultural campaign, Ganda, which aims to be a kind of Ukraine when it comes to wheat production, has prepared a total of 1,650 hectares of cultivable land, registering 1,180 producers, anticipating In this particular case, harvest 1.5 tons per hectare.
At the end of production, the aim is to obtain a yield of two thousand and 475 tons. In relation to the previous agricultural campaign, 2023/2024, it is believed that there was an increase in the number of producers and areas prepared and sown. Illustratively, official data consulted by this newspaper indicate that, in the agricultural campaign mentioned, Ganda had a total of 500 producers and 700 hectares, having generated, in terms of production, 1,200 kg per hectare.
This productive situation was fundamentally due to the fact that some producers faced great difficulties when it came to preparing land and acquiring fertilizers. The priest of the Kassipera Mission, Sabino Uanhica, the main wheat producer in Chicuma, praises the authorities’ support in fertilizers to increase production figures and, as a result, expects good harvests.
The priest maintains that, currently, due to the destruction of a large part of corn production, many farmers, especially in Chicuma, are focusing their attention on wheat cultivation. “We want to replace those spaces that no longer have any hope of harvesting so we can put wheat”, he points out.
Agriculture boosts wheat segment
Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture made 130 tons and 50 tons of fertilizer available to the Municipal Administration of Ganda, although it was not the type of fertilizer that producers needed (it provided ammonium when the need fell for the compound 12-24-12). , according to complaints collected by this newspaper.
In this vein, the municipal director of Agriculture, José David Kumandala, who revealed the numbers exclusively to this newspaper, considers wheat to be today’s ‘gold’. In the municipality of Ganda, where this newspaper’s report was working, it was possible to observe the movement of trucks loaded with wheat seeds and fertilizers, coming from the neighboring Republic of Namibia, to be distributed, free of charge, to the thousand and 18 producing families, registered by the Institute of Agrarian Development, as highlighted by the director of Agriculture, Kumandala José.
The person responsible considers it to be of great value for the municipality to have available, within the scope of the ambitious Wheat Production Program, huge quantities of seeds with a view precisely to promotion, also taking into account the projections for the export of the product. For José Kumandala, global circumstances, associated with the war in Ukraine, have given a certain commercial value to wheat, so that, in order to combat and prevent possible shortages, there is a strong focus on its cultivation, and, in this particular , Ganda enters the range of producing regions, following Planagrão.
“Fortunately, in the commune of Chicuma there is fertile land suitable for wheat. We, at the municipality level, are focused on several areas. It’s not just wheat, wheat is one of the patents we have, we are producing Arabica coffee on a large scale. At the moment, here at headquarters, at the experimental station, we have 20 thousand seedlings”, reveals the head of the agricultural sector in the municipality of Ganda.
The municipal director of the Agrarian Development Station, Justo Zacarias, ensures that all necessary support is being provided to farming families. The person responsible states that, for now, only primary registration has been carried out in the Chicuma commune, given that Ganda, as a whole, has favorable land for cereal cultivation.
“The aim of this wheat project is to reach more than 3 thousand families. And more than 20 thousand hectares. The other phase begins in September, where we will accommodate the next families”, he projects, having highlighted that there was a considerable turnout of families eager to produce wheat.
The communal administrator of Chicuma, Agostinho Antunes, has no doubt that promoting wheat production represents a great gain for his region and maintains that, with the gesture, the Government once again confers the status of producer of the cereal on the commune. Agostinho praises the fact that producers are committed to restoring the “gran status in the province of Benguela. Wheat is a very important cereal and the commune already produced it and will do everything to dignify the good name of the municipality of Ganda”, he guarantees.
Cereal producer status to the commune
The municipal director of the Agrarian Development Station, Justo Zacarias, ensures that all necessary support is being provided to farming families. The person responsible states that, for now, only primary registration has been carried out in the Chicuma commune, given that Ganda, as a whole, has favorable land for cereal cultivation. “The aim of this wheat project is to reach more than 3 thousand families. And more than 20 thousand hectares.
The other phase begins in September, where we will accommodate the next families”, he projects, having highlighted that there was a considerable turnout of families eager to produce wheat. The communal administrator of Chicuma, Agostinho Antunes, has no doubt that promoting wheat production represents a great gain for his region and maintains that, with the gesture, the Government once again confers the status of producer of the cereal on the commune. Agostinho praises the fact that producers are committed to restoring the “gran status in the province of Benguela. Wheat is a very important cereal and the commune already produced it and will do everything to dignify the good name of the municipality of Ganda”, he guarantees.
BY: Constantino Eduardo, in Benguela