DILI, 26 september 2023 (TATOLI)– National Director of Agriculture and Horticulture in the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock Fisheries and Forestry ( MALLF), Lucio R. Ribeiro, said Timor – Leste has produced every year 120 tons of corn.
According to Ribeiro, the production is very limited and the consumption of corn is also very low compared to rice. But he said, despite the production of corn being very limited, Timor-Leste needs to increase corn production to meet the national consumption: “Timor-Leste has 36,000 hectares land for plating the corn while land uses is 17,000 hectares and farmers produced 120 tons of corn every year for national consumption.” the Director of Agriculture and Horticulture, Lucio R. Rebeiro told TATOLI in his office in Kampung Merdeka Comoro Dili on tuesday.
he said MALLF is looking forward to continuing to identify the potential land to grow the corn and increase its productivity.
“We had also allocated $ 327,000 to buy 79 tons of corn seeds to distribute to the farmers in the 13 municipalities,” he said.
Ribeiro added that the production of corn is also important to produce animal foods.
“Corn is not the primary food of Timorese, most population consume rice, But MALLF will continue to intensify the farmers to grow more corn for producing animal foods,” he concluded.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Nelia B.
