Mozambique's Agricultural and Livestock Survey (CAP) has shown a high percentage of the country's 3.8 million farms grow cashew trees and coconut palms, website Allafrica.com reported.

National Statistics Institute (INE) results taken in 2009-10 showed the southern African nation grew 38.2 million cashew trees on more than a third of the country's farms.

The story reported Mozambique grew around 24.3 million coconut palms across almost one quarter of the nation's farms, focused mainly in the provinces of Inhambane and Zambezia. Much of Mozamique' coconut harvest goes towards the production of copra, which is used to make coconut oil and animal feedstock.

The survey showed 99.6% of farms were classified as 'small', covering less than 10 hectares while only 841 were categorized as 'large', covering more than 50 hectares.

Mozambique's most common cash crop was sesame which was produced by 7.43% of farms, followed by sugar cane (5.92%) and tobacco (2.91%), the story reported.

The survey has revealed just 5.3% of farms used irrigation, 3.8% used fertilizers, 2.5% used pesticides, 1.8% used ploughs and 1.6% used tractors.

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Photo: Earth911.com

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