28 Feb 2021

Tonota Sub-district crop production officer, Mr Phetogo Molefi says there are 115 horticultural projects in his area of jurisdiction with allocated land area of 721 021 hectares. 

Addressing Tonota Sub-district Council on Wednesday, Mr Molefi said among these, 93 were operational while 22 wre out of production.

Most of the projects, according to Mr Molefi, were along Shashe River and utilised water from the same while others employed the services of boreholes for irrigation.

The said horticultural produce supplied were mostly spinach, rape, cabbages, tomatoes and lettuce.

“For the last two years, production has increased from 1 240.44 tonnes in 2018 to 4 902.75 tonnes in the 2020 ploughing season, for which 399 people have been employed,” he said.

He however said the increase was realised in melons and water melons, but not grain, which could boost for food security.

He said variation in production was due to climate variability, which was caused by high temperatures, late rains and inadequate rainfall.

On average, he said crops that survived were those that were recommended in the agro-ecological zone strategy.

Mr Molefi also said they were faced with challenges such as rainfall variability, land degradation, pests such quelea birds, Fall Army Worm, grasshopper, land-use conflict between cattle owners and crop producers as well as farmers’ reluctance to submit production data by farmers.

He advised farmers to plough two hectares of maize in every 10 hectares and urged them to consult retail shops to market their produce.

In response, the councillors said farmers lacked information and that they did not know when seeds were distributed. 

They complained that subsistence farmers should be assisted financially as was the case with their commercial counterparts.

Furthermore, the councillors wanted to know how the Department of Crop Production was preparing to wage war against pests of economic importance and their collaboration with other stakeholders such as the Department of Wildlife and Natural Resources.

The councillors also wanted the number of foreign nationals who ploughed in production areas along Shashe River vis-à-vis the number of local farmers.

They complained that the number of personnel deployed to fight pests and material used were not adequate. 

They thus wanted to know if the Ministry of Agricultural Production and Food Security was planning to remedy the situation. BOPA