The Ministry of Agriculture has established 121 plant clinics across the country.
The plant clinics have been established by the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) and the Department of Agriculture through the PlantWise Initiative which was launched in 2013.
ZARI Deputy Director for Research Services Monde Zulu says through the initiative, the ministry has also trained 324 plant doctors who are in charge of the plant clinics in all the 10 provinces.
Speaking during the PlantWise National Stakeholders Meeting in Lusaka, Ms. Zulu explained that practical plant advice to small-scale farmers remains critical if Zambia is to exhaustively achieve sustainable agriculture.
Ms. Zulu has noted that the PlantWise initiative has been key to early detection and treatment of plant diseases, army worms and other pests that destroy crops every farming season.
And Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International -CABI- representative Dr. Noah Phiri has commended the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and Crop Life International for their different contributions in the running and implementation of plantWise initiative.
National Union for Small-scale Farmers of Zambia -NUSFAZ-Acting Executive Director Norwell Simukonda has appealed to government to consider deploying more extension officers to enhance extension service delivery.
