06 Apr 2014

The Ministry of Agriculture will in future outsource some services which it has been rendering to the farmers, says crop production director, Mr Galeitsewe Ramokopane.

Speaking at the Tonota East young farmers’ field day tour on Thursday, April 3, the director noted that some services among them seeds distribution and fertilisers which are given to farmers will in future be supplied by the producers themselves with farmers buying their own seeds from the suppliers instead of relying on the department for distribution during the ploughing season.

The aim of outsourcing such services, Mr Ramokopane explained, was to allow the department to focus on their core business of ensuring that farmers plant properly so that maximum output was achieved from the land which has been allocated for production.

He highlighted that there was so much land which has been allocated for farming and most of such land was not put to use as expected. He further mentioned that they also aimed to have a minimum number of farmers who can produce good yields which can be used to feed the nation.

“We want to have at least three more other areas similar to Pandamatenga fields around the country to produce food for the nation from just a good number of farmers,” he emphasised.

He also noted that they also intended to empower Batswana as producers of seeds to sell their own produce and share their expertise on the product, adding that often some farmers neglect their fields after ploughing because they do not spend on buying seeds as they are given for free.

On other issues, the director urged farmers to form associations and committees through which they would encourage interaction and communication between farmers and agricultural officers, hence bridging the gap that existed between them. And he pointed out that such committees would act as their mouth piece on issues and challenges they were facing on their fields and raise these with government.

Meanwhile, a young farmer, Shima Balotlhanye who is part of the 15 young farmers in Tonota East urged other young farmers to do away with the habit of always complaining and instead find means of turning their challenges into opportunities more so that the government has extended its helping hand to them.

He said unlike his peers, when he started in the field of farming almost two years ago, he focused on acquiring farming equipment which he believed were the main components than getting a personal vehicle. Since acquiring such equipment with the help of his business partner, they have managed to change and improve farming in their area.

So far, he noted that they were ploughing about 800 hectares of which 500 of them were his and the partner.

He said they have set themselves targets to focus on certain cash crops such as beans to take advantage of the good Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) prices which stands at P800 per bag.

He, nonetheless appealed to the government to set up service centres with necessary equipment and products for farming so that farmers will not have to travel long distances in search of spare parts for farming implements. ENDS