08 Feb 2015

There are no farms earmarked for crop irrigation in Jwaneng / Mabudzane constituency due to scarcity of water.

Answering questions on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Lands and Housing Mr Prince Maele however said the constituency has 47 commercial beef farms and two game farms.

Mr Maele stated that the government has developed the agricultural infrastructure development policy which was instituted to assist farmers with necessary infrastructure throughout the country in production areas.

He said the infrastructure proposed includes roads, electricity and telecommunication, adding that however the implementation of the policy has been delayed due to resource constraints.

Mr Maele also pointed out that following ISPAAD review in 2012, farmers are categorised according to their level and area of production.

He said the three groups are subsistence farmers who cultivate a maximum of 16ha and such farmers use small equipment that is suitable for their area of production.

He said the other group is for the emerging farmers who cultivate more than 16ha up to 150ha who use medium sized equipment for their operations.

The other group, he stated is of commercial farmers who cultivate over 150ha using large and sophisticated machinery and equipment.

Mr Maele pointed out that there are no commercial farmers in Jwaneng/ Mabutsane constituency. However there were seven (7) emerging farmers and 6445 subsistence farmers who cultivate 1698ha and 6445ha respectively.

Member of Parliament for Jwaneng- Mabutsane ,Mr Shawn Nthaile had wanted the Minister of Agriculture to state the number of commercial, emerging and subsistence farms in his constituency.

MP Nthaile had also wanted to know the number of farms earmarked for crop irrigation, beef farming and tourism.

He further wanted to know if there were any plans to assist farmers with basic infrastructure such as electricity, water, tarred road network and telecommunication. ENDS