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Type
House
Session
Year
Department
Member
Primary member
Answering member
Legislative stage
Legislation
Subject
Publisher
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what potential there is for the replacement of maize by sorghum as the staple crop of Southern Mozambique.
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what potential there is for the replacement of maize by sorghum as the staple crop of Southern Mozambique.
Asked by
John Barrett
(Liberal Democrat)
Answered by
Clare Short
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for International Development
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
18 December 2002
For answer on
7 January 2003
Answered on
7 January 2003
John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what potential there is for the replacement of maize by
sorghum as the staple crop of southern Mozambique. [88681]
Clare Short: There has been a trend towards reintroduction of sorghum in southern Mozambique to promote resilience to drought.
However, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently held a meeting that concluded that sorghum is not an ideal alternative
to maize in southern Mozambique.
Though sorghum resists drought a little bit better than maize, it is not a drought resistant crop, it is very labour intensive, has
a long growing period and has high demands on soil fertility and moisture. Maize has also tended to experience steady market prices
and an unlimited demand on the market as an export crop for Europe.
The FAO meeting concluded that the best solution for southern Africa would be to identify patches with the right conditions for
either maize or sorghum, and that the success of the introduction of any new crop will depend on the prevailing economic and
marketing prospects.
Subjects
Crops; Droughts; Mozambique; Maize; Sorghum
Date
7 January 2003
Reference
88681; 397 c92W
House
House of Commons