Annual report on Nyasaland / Colonial Office.

  • Great Britain. Colonial Office.
Date:
[1955]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Nyasaland / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/162 (page 4)
    During the year a Land and Agricultural Loans Board was created by Government to encourage agricultural development, with terms of reference similar to the land banks in neighbouring territories. A number of applications was considered and loans were granted to six farmers. Other assistance schemes, aimed at promoting better farming, included the sale of farm carts, fertilizers and pise moulds at subsidized prices. Physical protection of the soil, by means of contour or graded bunds, continued and nearly 9,000 miles of bunds were marked during the year. Other conservation measures that received constant attention were gulley reclamation, the safe disposal of storm water, the protection of river banks and waterways, the protection of escarpment areas, the regeneration of over-grazed areas and the conservation of water. Village Land Improvement Schemes, which have as their aim the reorganization of village lands, the allocation of suitable areas to timber and grazing and the rearrangement and conservation of gardens on a permanent conservation pattern, made steady headway. In the Central Province, where most progress was made, 14 schemes were initiated embracing 107 families cultivating 1,106 acres of arable land. Since 1940, when the training courses for African agricultural field staff were commenced, 238 Instructors have successfully completed their training. Only students with a Standard VI educational qualifica¬ tion are now accepted for the Course and it is intended to raise the entry standard, as soon as sufficient Standard VIII or Standard X candidates come forward from secondary schools. The first of the two-year advanced courses was completed and five out of six students were successful. Future training will take place at the Colby School of Agriculture and Veterinary Science near Lilongwe. The Rural Farm School at Tuchila, in the Southern Province, continued to run short courses and some 570 persons attended during the season. The policy concentrated on obtaining numbers of people from the same areas, in order that they should give each other mutual encouragement after leaving Tuchila and make it easier for field officers to maintain the enthusiasm and interest engendered at the School. Similar farm schools have now been built at Mbawa in the Northern Province, in collaboration with the Veterinary Department, and at Chitedze in the Central Province. Agricultural research continued during the year at the research centres. The Bvumbwe Tung and Agricultural Station expanded its work to cover trials with deciduous fruit, coffee and general aspects of mixed farming in one predominantly European area.