Harar — Nearly 500,000 farmers organized in development teams in 16 woredas of the East Hararghe Zone in Oromia State have begun activities to harvest over 4.3 million quintals of crop in the current main harvest season, the zonal agriculture and rural development office said.

Office Head, Tajudin Abdurahman told ENA that the farmers, organized in more than 16,000 teams, have covered 290,000 hectares of farmland with seeds.

Tajudin said about 91,000 quintals of fertilizer and select seed was supplied to the farmers, while 540 development agents have been providing technical support.

He said preparations are underway to cover the remaining 80,000 hectares of land with seeds.