13 Jun 2016

The Minister of Agriculture Mr Patrick Ralotsia says agriculture plays a vital role in the economy of a country and that of families.

Mr Ralotsia was speaking during the Mookane Commercial Farmers Association annual field day held at Tsoo 13 Red Brahmans and Horticultural produce Farm in Mookane over the weekend.

He said agriculture was responsible for other sectors as it creates employment and that is why  government was doing everything it could to come up with initiatives which would at the end answer issues of unemployment.

He said   government was committed to supporting agriculture with different initiatives such as ISPAAD, LIMID, ASSP and the newly launched Economic Diversification Programme.

Mr Ralotsia said  government does this because it has confidence in this sector’s ability to produce food which is both needed by the country and the people.

He noted also that  government was committed in supporting farmers who show passion and dedication in their work, and encouraged the organisors of the event to grow this initiative until it becomes one of the Agro-Tourism events.

He said this would lead to a diversified agriculture, thus grow contribution to the national GDP.

Further, Mr Ralotsia said farming needs dedication, commitment and passion and people need to differentiate between people who like farming and those whom he cited as pirate farmers.

He said people who are pirate farmers often do not go very far with their farming while real farmers know what they want and what they have to do, adding that farming was a 24-hour job.

He said one thing that people should know about agriculture was that it was not about secrecy but a joint venture where people share information, ideas and challenges.

The Minister said agriculture was about how open one was with their knowledge, hence the event where by four Mookane cattle breeders came together to share ideas and show case their products and produce.

The event is a brainchild of Thapelo and Thebe Setlalekgosi, Phenyo Nthase and Sonny Mokgadi. The four were brought together by their desire to uplift the standard of farming in the cattle posts and farmlands.

Mr Ralotsia said Mookane Field Day which started being held three years ago under the theme  ‘Stud breeding in communal land, followed by ‘Farming as a business’ at this year’s theme ‘Masimo moraka intergrated’ shows that all these themes show commitment, ambition and vision of the initiators of these field day.

He said it was apparent that theirs was not only about producing food but they are aware of their role as a critical engine of growth providing raw materials for the industry.

He assured them that   government needs people like them who could move this country from being a net importer to be an exporter of food, and by that  government would continue to give them support.

He noted that what they were doing was not only about improving the economy of the country but most importantly about restoring the country’s pride

Mr Ralotsia said the late rains this year have drastically impacted crops, vegetation and the water situation, and due to the economic downturn, he urged farmers to adopt best practices to optimize production.

He said as indicated by this year’s theme intergrated farming was one of government initiatives to improve farm land management.

He said many Batswana have been allocated agricultural land in the form of arable fields and ranches, but currently they cannot use it for other agricultural activities to diversify within the agricultural base and as a result the land is not optimally used.

He said intergrated farming allows the landholder to concentrate on all production resources such as manpower, land and finance on a single piece of land, thus saving the farmers labour, time and costs.

Mr Ralotsia said it also creates opportunity to improve overall land productivity and by use of residues or bye products of one activity to improve other components at minimal costs.

Therefore, implored farmers to adopt modern farming technologies to increase yields.ENDS