12 Aug 2021

About thirty-four farmers in Mosetse in the Tutume Sub-district have formed a cluster to take advantage of the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD).

The farmers recently launched Gulugwe Cluster Fencing.

The cluster chairperson, Mr Joe Linga, said they grouped themselves to improve crop production.

Mr Linga said the group had 17 young farmers while the rest were elderly people. 

He explained that their farms made a total of 750 hectares and were confident that they would produce about 3 000 tonnes of maize or meal mealie.

He further explained that they wanted to utilise all the 750 hectares to produce food.

In addition, Mr Linga asserted that they had set themselves a target to have completely debushed the land in three years’ time. 

He, however, said at the moment they would continue to plough the land, which they had been using.

Mr Linga pointed out that the agricultural sector needed to be fully revived, saying it had been declining over the years, noting that when fully functional, the sector would both create jobs and feed people.

“Farming is a full-time job which needs dedication and commitment for one to get good returns hence those in it are assured of full time jobs,” he said.

Furthermore, he stated that they were going to classify themselves as per the cash crops they would plough depending on the rainfall. 

He noted that they were going to use new technologies that would guarantee good yields.

 For his part, Tutume Sub-district crop production officer, Mr Gaone Mmusi, said from 2008 until the last ploughing season, government had spent P750 million on ISPAAD, but production was not matching the money spent on farmers.

He said individual farmers had failed to produce enough food for the country and that resulted in a high import bill for government.

 Mr Linga said the sub-district had over 40 000 hectares, but annually farmers had failed to fully utilise the land allocated to them.

He therefore noted that with a cluster, members would exchange ideas and support each other to reach the intended goal of producing a good harvest. ENDS