Malanje — Angolan President João Lourenço visited the Malanje Agricultural Expo 2023 Thursday, where the agricultural potential of the province's 14 municipalities is being displayed.

The president received detailed information on the level of production in the municipalities.

Main players in the region's agricultural sector - UNICANDA (the country's largest maize producer) and the PIPE farm- also briefed the president on production of maize, beans and soya, among others.

João Lourenço was also learnt of the progress of the process to resume cotton production in the municipality of Cunda-dia-Base, as part of a commitment by the company IEP ALCAAL, owner of TEXTANG II, which in the 2022/2023 agricultural season produced 207 tonnes of the product on an area of 69 hectares.

In the last crop year, the project to revive cotton production involved 83 families.

For the 2023/2024 agricultural year, IEP ALCAAL plans to expand the production area from 69 to 150 hectares, 100 in the municipality of Cunda-Dia-Base and 50 in Cahombo, the latter on an experimental basis, with a harvest of 405 tonnes expected.

President João Lourenço learned of the level of rice production by the Planeta Verde company in the municipality of Luquembo, which in its first year of cultivation (2022) harvested 1,500 tonnes from 156 hectares.

In the season about to begin, the project's goal is to reach 400 hectares and a forecast of 3,000 tonnes. ACC/PBC/AL/DAN/NIC