16 Jan 2022

The demand, profit potential and resilience of maize and sorghum makes them a better choice for farmers, Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB), acting chief executive officer Dr Benjamin Ditsele has said.

Dr Ditsele, who was speaking at a kgotla meeting organised by the Mmathethe/Molapowabojang legislator Dr Edwin Dikoloti in Molapowabojang on Thursday, also noted that farmers who planted the grains stood to benefit from the lucrative market.

He shared that in a bid to encourage grains production in the country, the marketing board had instituted a number of initiatives to make production a lucrative undertaking for farmers.

“BAMB in partnership with National Crop Production Association has reviewed and adjusted producer prices of those commodities with the view to ensure that they are consummate and in line with the market prices,” he said.

Subsequently. price for a 50kg bag of sorghum which was previously bought at P130 will be bought at P147, while a 50kg bag of maize which was previously bought at P135 will be bought P147.

He said, he was aware that there were farmers who were still dissatisfied with the producer prices, and advised them not to hesitate as there was always room for discussion.

He said there were returns if proper farming was implemented.

“BAMB has a contract for producers and that agreement allows farmers to settle for the agreed price and quantity prior to planting,” he said, as he appealed to them to take advantage of the contract so that they were sure of the market for their produce.

Dr Ditsele noted that it was beneficial to secure market for their produce, adding that mostly during harvest time prices went down due to the abundance of supply.

He further encouraged farmers to utilise the BushVet facility, which provided veterinary services, attended to calls where they conducted animal health and nutrition assessment as well as  preventive care and treatment.

He indicated that the service was now available across the country, adding that the facility also sold medicine.

Dr Ditsele shared that should all go well, by 2024, BAMB would be in a position to provide all the necessary supplies needed by farmers ranging from fertilizers, agro-chemicals, seeds and veterinary medicines.

He said the milestone could have been achieved sooner than 2024 had it not been to challenges brought by COVID-19 since most of the supply was sourced from South Africa.

He, however, said efforts were made to develop partnerships with foreign investors to set up manufacturing factories in the country, noting that the move would also assist in ensuring reasonable prices for the local consumers.

Residents had complained that adjusted prices were still low, and requested BAMB to further review the prices, as the current ones  were discouraging.

For her part, Agrizor Syngenta Products, Agronomist, Ms Amogelang Kaisara said they had a mentorship accelerator programme where they guided farmers who aspired to achieve a bumper harvest.

She said through the programme they imparted knowledge to the farmers, taking them through the planting stage till the harvesting stage.

He implored those who were interested in farming to register  adding that the programme aimed at contributing towards food security in the country. Ends