SMALL-SCALE farmers in Kaputa have started depositing money in the bank to access inputs under the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP).
Kaputa District Agriculture Coordinator, Kennedy Sinkamba told ZANIS in Kaputa that 2,808 farmers had been targeted to benefit from the programme during the 2019-2020 farming season.
Mr Sinkamba said each farmer was expected to deposit K400 to access a pack of input which contains seeds, fertilizer and other inputs.
He said that the process of depositing the money was progressing well and over 40 percent of the farmers had already deposited their money.
Mr Sinkamba further explained that of the total number of farmers to benefit from the inputs, about 2,500 small-scale farmers would also receive top-ups of other cash crops to maximize their profits.
Mr Sinkamba also said that government had introduced other crops such as soya beans, groundnuts and sorghum as part of its efforts to diversify from maize.
Meanwhile, Mr Sinkamba said that small-scale farmers who had been on FISP from 2017 would be weaned off from the programme after three years to pave way for other farmers to benefit.