Addis Ababa, 16 January 2016(WIC) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource Development has said that from the farms covered with various crops during the last main farming season, about 83 percent is successfully harvested.
Deputy Head of Public relation and communication with the Ministry, Wondimu Filate, told WIC that from about 12.7 million hectares of land covered with crops during the meher season, farmers have harvested crops on about 11.9 million hectares of land.
The Ministry expected to have 324 million quintals of crops during the farming season but this number is to decrease by 24 million quintals, he noted.
Wondimu underlined that the farmers should make the necessary care to protect crops from the late rainfall, which is vital for areas who farm during the belg season and for irrigation.
The government is trying to fill the gap in areas hit by the drought via irrigation and sowing crops that can grow within a short period of time, he said.
The farmers are getting the necessary support to adequately use ground and underground water to produce and fruits and vegetables and cope up with the effect of the drought, he added.