04 Oct 2020

Kgosi Simon Nkgageng of Tati-Siding kicked off a ploughing season yesterday. 

Speaking in an interview, he said the event was intended to give farmers a go ahead to start preparing for ploughing. 

He said a practice to officially kick start the ploughing season had been Batswana’s culture for a long time.

Kgosi Nkgageng said by so doing, they affirmed that the rain season had started and there was need to get ready.

The ritual was carried out by casting seeds of sorghum, maize, beans, sweet reeds, melons and others. 

He said it was the norm that after harvesting, farmers should take first fruits of their harvests to the silos at the kgotla to be stored for use in times of need. 

“Since this is start of a ploughing season under COVID-19 pandemic, I urge all to lead by example and take health protocols seriously to avoid infections or infecting others,” Kgosi Nkgageng said. 

He urged tractor owners to ensure that all their equipment were ready for the new season. 

He also advised livestock owner to always look after their animals to avoid infringement on farmer’s fields.

Kgosi Nkgageng advised farmers to make sure that their fields were fenced to obstruct animals from gaining entry. 

He implored tractor owners to always follow advise from Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security to always adhere to row planting since it was an effective way of planting. 

He said in the whole of North East District, farmers were not allowed to plough nor do weeding on Fridays as per their culture. 

He also encouraged those who were not using their ploughing fields to borrow them to others so that they could make enough food for the country and do away with selling of ploughing fields. 

Bishop William Motshabi of The Gospel Ambassador of God Church applauded Tati Siding for still upholding some cultural practices. 

He said in the past, there was no hunger and famine in their villages since silos and storerooms were always full of produce from the farms. 

Kgosi Mmopi Mmopelwa of Gulubane Ward in Tati Siding advised farmers to always give a tenth of proceed and the first fruit from their farms to the kgosi as a sign of appreciation and thanksgiving. 

He urged farmers to erect kraals to manage their livestock while farmers were encouraged to fence their fields. 

He said they should remove weeds, scare away birds and make sure that they move livestock from their fields so to realise a bumper harvest. Ends