06 Apr 2014

A commercial horticulture farmer in Taupye is having sleepless nights due to  heavy caterpillar attack on his vegetables.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Daniel Tiroyamodimo said his troubles began when butterflies recently laid eggs on his vegetables which later hatched into caterpillars which began feeding on his vegetables.

“Since I don’t know the name of the worm I am still waiting for the Agricultural Demonstrator to come and assess the situation in order to recommend appropriate pesticides,” he said.

Due to the caterpillar, Mr Tiroyamodimo, who is a former Debswana employee, said he struggled to meet the daily demand of 100 bundles of rape vegetables to retail outlets in Mahalapye.

As such all the money he earned from vegetables went to expenses, he pointed out, adding that scarce water also compounded his woes.

“I only have one borehole which yields less water.

I once approached CEDA for help but they couldn’t help me because there is less underground water in this area,” he said.

Mr Tiroyamodimo, who started horticulture farming in July 2013 after a short training at Mahalapye Rural Training Centre, remains optimistic about his horticultural farm saying his future plans are to increase production, venture into fruit tree production, as well as strawberry farming which he said is very profitable.ENDS