04 Mar 2013

Farmers in Topisi want government to assist by replacing old Sebele planters with new ones. 

Farmers told Assistant Minister of Agriculture Mr Oreeditse Molebatsi during a kgotla meeting in Topisi on Thursday that the old planters were worthless as farmers could not use them for fertilizer application. 

One farmer Mr Kgosiesele Phiri pleaded with Mr Molebatsi to assist by replacing the old planters with new ones. The new ones had two hopers for seeds and fertilizer.

Mr Phiri who is also a member of Topisi Farmers Committee said Topisi had a serious shortage of tractors as a result most farmers were unable to plough their fields this crop season.

He said the limited tractors available were not in good condition hence posing a serious inconvenience to farmers.

However Mr Molebatsi said his ministry was aware of this problem and was still in talks with Rural Industries Innovation Centre (RIIC) to assist with improving the old planters so that they served the same purpose as the new ones.

He asked the farmers to register their names with the Agricultural Extension officer so that the ministry could assist them.

Regarding limited tractors, Mr Molebatsi advised tractor owners to service their tractors and farm implements on time. He said some tractor owners failed to service their tractors and farm implements resulting in them breaking down during the rainy season when they were supposed to serve farmers.

Furthermore he urged them to use modern farming methods saying row planting was profitable than the traditional broadcasting method.

He said farmers still practiced the traditional form of planting where cereal and legume seeds were mixed prior to broadcasting. This he said was wrong because legumes were now considered weeds thus competed with cereal crops for nutrients and water leading to stunted growth.

He said therefore that it was high time farmers employed new ways of planting for them to have a good harvest. For farmers to achieve this, he said it should start with tractor owners purchasing farm implements such as planters and harrows.

He said the government would in future not engage the services of tractor owners without farm implements. He said in some instances farmers purchased more tractors instead of purchasing farm implements.

He said tractor owners complained of P400 per hectare paid to them after ploughing, the amount that was agreed on after diesel prices increased to P10 per litre.

He said after some time diesel prices declined to P6 per litre but the P400 amount remained unchanged. Mr Molebatsi also encouraged farmers to grow sorghum and beans as they did well under the country’s climate conditions. ENDS