Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development has said wheat and cotton production will down slope this year.

This is according to a survey conducted by the ministry to assess production and productivity of crops which has suggested that wheat and cotton production has declined over the past years and is likely to continue dropping this year.

Minister responsible, Joseph Mwananveka made the remarks during news conference at Capital Hill in Lilongwe.

Mwananveka said wheat production is likely to drop this year because the crop depend on irrigation farming as it is a winter crop making it expensive to grow.

“Unlike the years, this time wheat is expected to marginally decline by 2.06 percent due to seed unavailability and lack of better markets,” he said.

He further added that the spell will fall much on areas that experienced heavy rainfall despite government’s effort to boost cotton production.

“This year some parts of the Malawi especially Mangochi and lower shire have been affected by heavy rainfall which has ensued into floods. As such, this has had a negative impact on cotton production,” he said.

The minister said the government will do everything possible to make wheat and cotton production easy and cheap.

Meanwhile government is intensifying irrigation to help farmers grow wheat and reduce exportation.