20 Jan 2013

The Vice President, Dr Ponatshego Kedikilwe has advised farmers against overstocking.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Mmadinare on Thursday, the Vice President said overstocking led to overgrazing and ultimately less pasture for livestock to feed as well as land degradation.

He advised cattle farmers who tended to keep large numbers of cattle to desist from a such tendency so as to avoid losing cattle during periods of drought. 

Instead, he said, farmers should consider selling some of their cattle and save the proceeds from such sales, adding that this was better than keeping a large herd of cattle only to lose them to drought.

Dr Kedikilwe also called on farmers to herd their cattle so that they would not destroy other farmers’ crops. 

Addressing arable farmers, the Vice President urged them to take care of their fields after ploughing to prevent wild animals and livestock from destroying their crops.     

He said farmers who had not yet started ploughing should do so explaining that it was not too late.

In response to some of the concerns raised by the residents, Dr Kedikilwe said shortage of tractors in ploughing areas was an opportunity for Batswana, especially the youth, to take advantage of the situation.

He explained that the youth could form syndicates and request funding from the Young Farmers Fund and Youth Development Fund,  among other programmes, to purchase tractors and venture into the ploughing business.

He said the move would contribute positively towards reducing youth unemployment rate in the country.

The Vice President further advised the residents to heed the advise by the agricultural officers on which seeds to use following reports of some variety that did not germinate.

Dr Kedikilwe also explained that government would plough fields again for those whose seeds had failed to germinate.

For his part, Kgosi Phukuntsi Seeletso told the Vice President that farmers around the Mmadinare area had lost herds of cattle to drought.

The tribal leader also said that tractor owners who ploughed fields for residents under the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) were complaining that the  P400 they were paid was too little to match the expenses they incurred in preparing their tractors for ploughing.

“Tractor owners complain that they use too much money to fuel their vehicles to purchase diesel and also use more diesel by travelling to the fields and also during ploughing.”

Furthermore, Kgosi Seeletso said residents complained of shortage of tractors to plough the fields and requested government to consider increasing the number of government-owned  tractors in the area.

Meanwhile, the Central District agricultural coordinator, Mr Letsholonyana Tabona said the Ministry of Agriculture was aware of tractor owners’ concerns and explained that they would look into the issue to find a solution.

He said the contsantly changing fuel prices impacted on the ISPAAD programme resulting in tractor owners experiencing some difficulties.

He also asked farmers to desist from purchasing the Savannah-branded seeds for ploughing as they did not germinate, adding that although information regarding the faulty seeds had been disseminated, some farmers had continued to ignore the advise.

ENDS