28 Mar 2019

Government is to revamp the Lobu Small Stock Farm in Kgalagadi, says deputy council chairperson, Mr Aidoo Lesope.

Mr Lesope told a Kgalagadi District Council full council session on Tuesday that the move was intended to train and provide technical skills to farmers for improved small stock management. He added that the Lobu farm would also provide farmers nationwide with breeding stock that would improve the quality of their flocks.

He said the project, which had created employment opportunities for the community, currently boasted of 529 stud small stock, 28 white Brahman cattle and 473 commercial small stock.

He said 460 commercial small stock, nine horses, seven donkeys and three mules were auctioned last October for P340 000.  He noted that of the 38 staff houses at the farm, 24 were electrified while three houses and a storeroom were maintained. He stated that the project had yielded results as 426 farmers had been trained on different livestock commodities, including small stock, beef, fodder, poultry, and ostriches, which he said would add more economic value if the knowledge gained was optimally used.

Councillor Lesope told councillors to remain hopeful about the construction of the small stock abattoir in Tsabong, saying the project was still on the cards.

He said the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security was working on the new contract agreement as the previous contract had not factored in critical infrastructure facilities such as access roads, the rendering plant and sewerage system.

To further develop the district, he said a hatchery plant in Kang, which currently housed 100 Tswana chickens, was being revived as government was committed to conserving and promoting Tswana chicken production. He said the chicks would be supplied to the farming community, including poverty eradication programme beneficiaries as breeding stock. Furthermore, Mr Lesope told the full council meeting that the Kgainyane Artificial Insemination Camp had received 311 cattle for insemination, adding that 220 animals were inseminated and that the process was expected to be completed by the end of the breeding season.

He revealed that the Phuduhudu Artificial Insemination Camp had not been receiving cattle since 2015 due to camel invasion, which resulted in rangeland degradation thus adversely affecting animal breeding.

To boost Kgalagadi District, whose economic bedrock was livestock production, he said, research was being done and more appropriate technologies on fodder crops and climate smart farming practices were being developed specifically for the region.

He said hope was not lost as some young people in the district had ventured into urea molasses block production, which was a supplementary feed produced to mitigate the effects of drought on cattle.

He said there were suspected cases of lumpy skin disease reported at Kokotsha, Werda, Makopong and Draaihoek in February. He advised farmers  to vaccinate their cattle. He said Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) movement controls were currently being monitored following an outbreak in South Africa.

Meanwhile, he said the Tsabong office was conducting surveillance between the two countries in order to contain the situation.

In an interview, Middlepits/Khuis/Lobu councillor, Mr Diteko Kotokwe appreciated government for revamping the Lobu Small Stock Farm, which he said had created employment for people in the community that were poverty stricken. He said the continuous development of the Lobu Small Stock Farm was a welcome development as it had transformed lives.

“About 40 people are employed at Lobu so small stock farming is our diamond in Kgalagadi. Government has bought top breeds from South Africa to help farmers produce high breeds. After breeding we auction them so that farmers can buy and develop their stock,” he said. ENDS