by Rabecca Mwila

The Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ) has commenced the pasture seed and fertiliser distribution exercise in targeted dairy cooperatives covering four provinces.

Making the announcement in an interview recently, Executive Manager Jeremiah Kasalo said 30 dairy cooperatives from Southern, Lusaka, Central and Copperbelt provinces, all under the Digital Information Management System (DIMS) project, had been selected to pilot the demonstration project.

Mr Kasalo said the input distribution exercise was a scheduled activity under the DIMS project supported by the Swedish embassy and was meant to encourage farmers to use pastures in their production in order to reduce the cost of buying animal feed concentrates.

“We have a pilot programme under the DIMS project involving input distribution, and the inputs include pasture seed and fertiliser for demonstration purposes,” he said.

He added that seed varieties distributed include Rhodes grass, Pennistum, Panicum, Kow Kandy and Bracharia, coupled with 4 bags of compound D fertiliser per cooperative.

“Once inputs are received, cooperatives will prepare one-hectare pieces of land as demo plots so that members can learn how to grow the pasture,” he said. He further said apart from input supply, DAZ was also equipping cooperatives with the necessary training to ensure successful germination and yields from the demonstration exercise as well as providing input supply linkages for the cooperatives.

He urged members of cooperatives to actively participate in the exercise to be able to replicate the activity on their individual farms, adding that milk production, yield and income for dairy farmers will improve. Meanwhile, benefiting cooperatives have lauded DAZ for launching the input distribution exercise.

Chati Dairy Cooperative Chairperson, Silvia Mutale, said in an interview after her cooperative received the inputs that her members were excited knowing that their animals were going to have pasture throughout the year. She appealed to DAZ to increase the number of dairy cooperatives to benefit from the project if the dairy industry in the country was to flourish.

Contact Miriam Mbazima of the Dairy Association of Zambia at 097-760-0458 or miriambazima@airtelzm.blackberry.com for more information.

DAZ staff distributing inputs to cooperatives in Lusaka.