13 Jul 2014

The government through the department of agribusiness promotions in the Ministry of Agriculture continues to reach out to farmers to assist them commercialise their farms.

Speaking during a beef field day at Polokabatho on July 10 the director of agribusiness promotions, Mr Boeditswe Masilo said they existed to give farmers assistance through skills transfer, market access and also by promoting agricultural cooperatives and associations.

He said as the department, they are aware of the challenges which farmers meet in their endeavours to develop their cattle and through the services they provide 

farmers can improve their farms and be able to keep records of their cattle.

Through the services, he said farmers could determine whether they are making profit or a loss and also detect where they went wrong.

He told farmers that rearing of cattle the olden ways does not benefit farmers, only commercialisation of a farm could help farmers achieve better results.

Mr Masilo commended farmers of Polokabatho for taking up advice from the Agribusiness office in Mochudi and implored others who are left behind to follow suit and run their farms commercially.

He noted that cattle play an important aspect in the economy of the country and their development remains vital as exported beef from Botswana creates revenue for the country.

Mr Masilo emphasised the important role farmers play in developing their cattle and later sell them to Botswana Meat commission and slaughter houses for consumption.

“We exist because we want farmers to develop and produce cattle which can be marketed overseas while farmers make profit from their sales,” he said.

Farmers who have sought help from the department were thankful for the assistance they received as it has helped them run their farms differently from the way they used to.

For his part, Mr Bareng Malatsi said everything that one does on the farm has to be recorded as it will help farmers to see whether they are making progress.

He said even though he used to keep his own records, things improved for the better since he met the department.

Mr Malatsi said when rearing cattle, the numbers should increase for someone to begin to enjoy the benefits. Keeping records on the number of cattle that died, salaries for herd boys, sales of cattle, medicine, petrol and others will help and guide a farmer to budget and plan for the future, he added.

Mr Jacob Molemi, who is also a farmer in the area, echoed the same words adding that when records are kept, one can easily count the losses made and come up with better ways of preventing the same problem from reoccurring.

He said now that he runs his farm commercially, whatever he does is written, he is now able to change things with knowledge taken from the records.

Another farmer, Mr Tsomelo Thipe said in the past, it was difficult for him to count losses because at times he never knew whether his cattle are dead or they had gone astray.

Mr Thipe said things have changed now, as he could plan and calculate losses or profits. He said he now uses money wisely, by planning first and executing the plan with knowledge. ENDS