16 Dec 2025

The declining agricultural produce and low yields per hectorage has prompted the National Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NARDI) to come up with initiatives to enhance production.
With the help of international partners, the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), NARDI has been able to set up best practice hubs in Kweneng District where the farmers were taught best practices in agriculture for high production.
Speaking during the site visit of the Kweneng village best practice hub on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NARDI, Professor Julius Atlhopheng said the sixth Steering Committee members for Improving Agricultural Resilience to Salinity through Development and Promotion of Pro-poor Technologies (RESADE) project were accorded an opportunity to visit one of the projects, where some members of the local community were undergoing training.
He said the practice hub gave locals an opportunity to be taught and learn how best to enhance production and value added chain of their produce especially in areas where ground water has high concentration of salinity.
Prof Atlhopheng said Kweneng practice hub was a piece of land measuring a hectare designed for research with irrigation system. He said crops that were used for research included lab-lab, varied varieties of beans and the traditional Kalahari early pearl variety of sorghum .
He added the Kalahari early pearl sorghum grows fast when irrigated adding that another variety of sorghum; Kanye standard also does well under such conditions.
Prof Atlhopheng said more than 700 farmers in Kweneng District have been trained, covering villages such as Mahetlwe, Gakuto, Lentsweletau and Tsetseng.
He further said the farmers were engaged in courses relating to exploring value chain of the different crops by making food item such jam, sauce and other value adding products to improve their livelihoods by starting small businesses.
Prof Atlhopheng said the Kweneng practice hub has a seed bank where farmers will be able to source traditional seeds, which were facing extinction.
He added that research showed that a hectare of a field given the necessary care, would produce a harvest of between 2.8 tons to 3.5 tons.
Prof Atlhopheng encouraged small holder farmers to source quality seeds from NARDI and be in a position to produce better yields.
Prof Atlhopheng said since its inception, the RESADE project which would run for three years, ending December 2026 had produced some positive results.
He added that NARDI wouldcontinue working closely with other government agriculture programmes, such as the new Lemang Dijo programme, identify areas of collaboration toward increased production. ENDS