03 Apr 2019

The continuing dry spell that the country has been experiencing has resulted in the decline of the area planted in the 2018/2019 planting season.

Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Patrick Ralotsia, was addressing a press conference in Gaborone on Tuesday.

He said this was because most of the crops planted are stunted and already showing signs of wilting while others had reached permanent wilting point which translated to zero harvest.

He stated that crop failure of over 50 per cent of the area was anticipated across all districts especially maize and sorghum.

Mr  Ralotsia further said the nutritional deficiencies were likely to escalate hence interventions would have to be expedited to reduce household food insecurity.

He said the deficiencies also had a bearing on the livestock production and productivity since the feed resource base was reduced.

The minister said two thirds of the area ploughed was planted with cereals which are sorghum, maize and millet followed by legumes such as cowpeas, groundnuts and pulses and other crops such as melons, pumpkins and squashes.

He said the situation was made worse by the fact that the main producers of cereals which are Pandamatenga farms and Mosisedi farms had not been spared

Mr  Ralotsia said Pandamatenga had been dominating in area planted compared to Mosisedi for the past two ploughing and planting seasons, stating that in 2017/18 planting season a total of 38 305 hectares and 7 608 hectares  were planted in Pandamatenga and Mosisedi farms respectively.

He said the situation had worsened as this current cropping season, hectares planted in Pandamatenga had dropped to 10 140 compared to 1 925 hectares planted in the Mosisedi farms.

Mr Ralotsia said the dry spell was also affecting the surface water levels and ground water recharge were also at the risk of decreasing, which would affect the availability of water for irrigation and livestock. ENDS