08 May 2017

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Mr Patrick Ralotsia has challenged farmers to sell their produce whilst still in good shape and quality as that could fetch them mouthwatering returns.

Speaking during the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s parastatals and enterprises open day at Serowe show ground  on Wednesday, Mr Ralotsia implored farmers to desist from selling their produce when pressed or when no longer needed.

The minster also challenged farmers to take improved farming methods and techniques for high returns arguing that, “A product is as good as the producer at the production time.”

Held under theme, ‘Agriculture First, Be innovative,’ minister Ralotsia said that the theme was more relevant as it challenged farmers to change their farming methods and be innovative to create employment, attain food security inter alia.

He said that attaining food security and maximizing production would in turn reduce import bill.

The second of its kind, the open day was first held in Kanye last year under the theme, ‘Farming, the business; Meet your partners.’

Mr Ralotsia informed Serowe residents that his ministry had been identified as one of the key sectors under economic stimulus programme geared towards achieving economic growth, accelerated employment creation and promotion of economic diversification.

As such, the agriculture sector sought to, amongst other things; implement dairy strategy, provision of infrastructure to production areas and facilitation of market access through the formation of production clusters.

The minister also said that to augment efforts towards increase of food security at household and national level government introduced programmes such as integrated support service programme for arable agriculture development, agriculture support service programme and fodder production scheme.

He found that the uptake of the programmes was ‘encouraging, though efforts made have been with challenges of drought, outbreak of tomato leaf miner and the fall of army worm.

“Under the agricultural sector, attaining food security and employment creation is in line with vision 2036 aspirations for a sustainable, technology driven and commercially viable sector,” minister Ralotsia said.

He said that the vision called for development of disease-free agricultural sector that optimised for the use of land, utilising technologies and modern farming methods to improve productivity.

For his part Bangwato Regent Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane encouraged his subjects to take to improved farming methods and techniques as they had proven beneficial towards improving food security.

He also challenge national food technology research centre to devise strategies and ways of preserving local produce so they could be sold at supermarkets.

Whilst appreciating the good and bad brought about by the recent downpours, Kgosi Kgamane revealed that farmers in his territory had taken to ploughing in good numbers. BOPA