Agronomy
Our Growing Areas
Our agronomy activities are split between seed and grain production activities. This is further split between own cultivation areas and out grower schemes.
Our internal agronomy is currently being established on 2,210 ha of farmland across four districts namely, Kasungu (8 ha), Lilongwe (2 ha – cassava SAH site), Thyolo (700 ha), Mangochi (1,100 ha) and Zomba (400 ha), the latter four in partnership with Mpatsa Holdings Ltd. On the other hand, outgrower schemes have been established in Chitipa (peanuts and beans), Mzimba (peanuts), Kasungu (peanuts) and Dedza (beans).
All agronomy activities are centered on irrigation, to ensure climate resilience and production all-year-round.
Buying Strategy
The company has evolved a strategy which seeks to buy as much stock direct from the farmer as possible. It also seeks to acquire groundnut stocks in-shell as opposed to shelled. This is to preserve the quality of the nut. Our tests have shown that for nuts acquired in-shell, aflatoxin levels are significantly improved over the nuts acquired shelled. This is largely due to poor post-harvest handling of shelled product by farmers and/or poor shelling processes during which water is often added to produce less splits. This has the impact of triggering the growth of the aflatoxin causing aspergillus mold on the surface of the nut, rendering the nut useless as an export product and effectively making it inedible.
Buying nuts in-shell has required the market to change. This is happening slowly. It also requires careful pricing and buying so that we can ensure quality parameters are met. Using our own buying network has assisted in that, albeit with the headaches that come with the management of such a network.
