19 Jun 2025

Drawn in by its high economic value, its unparalleled health benefits as well as its drought resistance qualities, more and more farmers in Pandamatenga are turning to safflower production with each passing year.

Mo-petals Farms, which operates under the ambit of a group of companies named Panda Safflower Growers, has this season planted 75 hectares of safflower in Pandamatenga.

In an interview, Mo-petals shareholder Mr Molebi Rabosigo described safflower as an all-season crop with minimal demand for water, hence it thrived in drought conditions and could do well even without fertilisers being applied to it.

He however noted that in the event that fertilisers had to be used, it was advisable that only organic fertilisers be applied to avoid hazardous residues on crops which could lead to damaged crops.

He said  despite its resilience, the crop required that smart farming practices like crop rotation and soil testing be applied in order for it to do well.

Regarding the current crop, he stated that he expected to harvest close to 150 tonnes of safflower in August from the 75 hectares ploughed.

Sharing his experience with pests, Mr Rabosigo said at some point he realised that pests were attacking his crop, a challenge that they countered by releasing the ladybug insect into their safflower field to consume the aphids hence making the treatment organic.

He explained that safflower could be consumed as a vegetable at an early stage after planting it, then cut for silage at 70 days maturity for use as livestock feed.

Rabosigo said the petals carry medicinal value as they could be used for treating high blood pressure, sugar diabetes and arthritis, as well as to improve blood circulation while the oil on the other hand could be used in the beauty and cosmetic industry.

Currently, he said Mo-petals was selling packaged safflower seeds and also petals for tea, which were available in Gaborone.

Mr Rabosigo said Mo-petals was also looking into extracting oil in the future, an undertaking in relation to which they had since been approached by one company in the oil business for some partnership.

“Safflower is a cash crop with high protein content and oil quality hence I encourage Batswana to explore its production and generate wealth because nothing goes to waste from safflower,” he said.

Mr Rabosigo said though safflower was an oil crop like sunflower, it produced organic oil of even higher quality with a litre of safflower oil selling at the equivalent of between P400 and P500 in international markets. ENDS