20 Jan 2019

Residents of Poloka and Dibete in the Central District have been urged to come up with strategies aimed at combating drought.

Member of Parliament for Shoshong Mr Dikgang Makgalemele,  who addressed  kgotla meetings in the two villages recently said  it was farmers who were the hardest hit by drought because they were never prepared, hence the need to identify  strategies to mitigate drought challenges.

“It is imperative for farmers to come up with measures to moderate impact of drought on the agricultural sector,” he said.  

He therefore urged farmers to take advantage of the recent rainfall and cultivate their fields.

Mr Makgalemele further advised farmers to also engage in cultivating livestock fodder products and stockpile their produce in order to sustain their livestock diet during drought seasons.

He said fighting drought was one of government’s priority issues and therefore appealed to farmers to come up with strategies that would augment government efforts in minimising impacts of drought.

Mr Makgalemele also castigated farmers who did not use government programmes such as ISPAAD  appropriately.

He said through ISPAAD farmers were given an opportunity to produce enough food to sustain their families and livestock and therefore it was unfortunate as some farmers failed to use the programme..

He said government through programmes such as ISPAAD was aiming at creating food security for the country and cut the import levy.

He said some of the field crops were destroyed by wild animals and livestock as they were left without care for far too long as owners would be engaged in short  term employment somewhere else.

Mr Makgalemele said instead of keeping a large herd of cattle, a farmer must sell some of the animals and buy stock feed to sustain the remaining stock during drought conditions.

“There is more to livestock farming than just keeping a large herd of cattle for pride,” he said.

Responding to Mr Makgalemele’s address, a resident of Poloka, Ms Boetelo Sebenyane said that farmers who benefited from ISPAAD neglected their fields after ploughing to engage in temporary employment.

Ms Sebenyane said government should consider blacklisting those that abused the programme and focus on those who were  dedicated to food production.

Another resident, Mr Motshereganyi Boitumelo  applauded Mr Makgalemele for the advise as it was delivered at a time when they were cultivating their fields and therefore would consider fodder production.

He said their area was hard hit by drought as most of their livestock had perished due to shortage of pastures. Ends