India pigeon pea imports from top supplier Mozambique delayed, lifting prices
O País
Drought, followed by flooding along the lower reaches of the Limpopo River, has left Gaza province with a deficit of more than 15 million meticals for the purchase of seeds for the second agricultural growing season.
Three weeks ago, after the Limpopo River reached flow levels estimated at five meters, 2.3 meters above the alert level, its waters flooded and destroyed nearly 2,500 hectares of agricultural crops, including huge areas of corn.
The flood wreaked havoc in the districts of Chókwè, with 1,366 hectares flooded and about 600 hectares lost; Guijá, which lost 906 hectares of crops; and Chibuto, with more than 300 hectares lost.
Of the total of 29 million meticais needed to recover lost agricultural production, the provincial government has only 13.6 million, which will be used to purchase close to 72 tons of corn, common beans, tomatoes, cabbage and onion seeds.
According to Manuel Machaieie, provincial representative of the National Institute of Disaster Management, there are now no families in risk areas, and some access roads that depend are again passable.
In Inhambane province, devastated on 15 February by cyclone Dineo, more than 670 tonnes of seeds are needed to recover from the devastation. The figure comprises 200 tonnes of maize seed, 288 tonnes of tubers, 102 tonnes of legumes and 260 kilograms of vegetable seeds. The cyclone devastated more than 30,000 hectares of crops and 140,000 fruit trees in Inhambane, leaving 112,513 families – 550,691 people – vulnerable and killing seven people and injuring 101.
Some of the victims In Inhambane still depend on the food aid provided by the National Institute of Disaster Management.
Yesterday, Limpopo river flow was about three meters, once more below the alert level. According to the National Directorate for Water Resources, the level of the Macarretane reservoir, one of the Limpopo measurement benchmarks in Gaza province, has declined. In Pafuri and Shingwedzi, the flow is still above three meters, but also below the alert level.
At about 1,600 km long, the Limpopo is the second-longest river in southern Africa. It serves as a border between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, before entering Mozambique, north of Gaza province, to drain into the Indian Ocean near the city of Xai-Xai.
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