15/11/2025
PRESS RELEASE
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security wishes informs the public, particularly the farming communities that the recent occurrence of unseasonal rains in the month of November across the country coincided with harvesting period of major crops. The unseasonal rains can cause several negative impacts to harvested produce in the field including moldiness, Fungal growth, Discoloration, loss of seed viability and loss of market value. Crops that are at risk and most likely to be affected by these unseasonal rains are Groundnut, maize, Millet and Rice. Farmers are hereby advised that harvested produce of these crops can negatively be affected by unseasonal rains in the following ways:
1. Moisture pe*******on can significantly degrade the quality of produce such as groundnut kernels getting swell, discoloration, decay of produce in the field thus affecting the overall yield;
2. Wet and humid situations can result to fungal contamination of above-mentioned crop (Groundnut) thus leading to aflatoxins production.
3. The unseasonal rain can expose harvested seeds to enough moisture thereby leading to sprouting and germinating seeds while in the field.
4. Overall, it can culminate to huge post-harvest losses thus potentially causing huge economic loss for farmers and the country at large
In an effort to avert the above-mentioned potential negative impacts to these crops, the Ministry is hereby advising farmers to take the following precautionary measures:
1. Adopt proper drying techniques such as spreading the harvested produces out to allow aeration and pe*******on of sunlight.
2. Avoid heaping their harvested ground nuts, millet and rice to prevent moisture settlement and mold growth.
3. Use raised platforms in drying harvested produces to allow quick water seepage and adequate aeration to facilitate drying process.
4. Windrow their harvested groundnut for faster drying process
5. Constantly turn stacked groundnut to avoid moisture buildup
6. store seeds in dry, well-ventilated stores and containers.
7. Regularly monitor harvested produces for signs of mold or moisture
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security hereby assures the farming community of it’s support and wishing farmers successful harvest season.
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