TOTUMA farmers will profit from drought-tolerant crops
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday May 12, 2025 09:19


Pillar informed Mmegi that as farmers they are now optimising their profit after years of drought and other difficulties by switching to drought-tolerant crops such as groundnuts, lablab, sunflower and others.
He explained that they were able to harvest more drought-tolerant crops for this season, even though the rains started late and persisted.
Pillar stated that members of his association successfully planted more than enough sunflower and groundnuts to serve the SPEDU region.
Two years ago, TOTUMA signed an agreement to provide businesses in the SPEDU region with around 5,000 tonnes of sunflower as well as 800 bags of groundnuts (50 kg each) per month at a very competitive price.
Pillar disclosed that the market will enable the financial recovery and growth of the association and its members as evidenced by their relationship with SPEDU. He said that despite declared droughts, climate change, and a series of poor harvests in previous years, the drought-tolerant crops performed well.
Furthermore, Pillar stated that they decided to explore drought-tolerant crops after realising that, as farmers, they had not capitalised on their popularity and strong demand.
He stated that the association started offering members education on groundnut, sunflower cultivation, post-harvest handling, and potential market prospects.
He continued: 'For example, I used to plough a lot of lablab despite unfavourable weather conditions, and the same produce was selling like fat cakes.'
Regarding the 2014/2025 ploughing season, Pillar stated that everything is fairly good compared to the previous years.
He stated that the majority of farmers who planted during the early December rains last year would be able to harvest more.
Additionally, he said while some people who planted in February were unsuccessful, they managed to replant as a result of the recent rains.
“During our latest field visit, it visibly clear that some of the crops that were planted at the same time are flourishing incredibly well. The same farmers are surely going to have a bumper harvest,” he added.
He stated that one of the reasons that some farmers planted late is due to shortage of tractors.
Pillar explained that in order to ensure that most if not all of their members plough, they had to make do with the few available in the area.
On other issues, he said continuous rainfall also triggered the emergence of the fall armyworm.
Pillar said that fall armyworm consume produce and spreading fast as such farmers use pesticides to address the problem.
Additionally, he said that they are able to use herbicides and advanced technology to control weeds resulting in the highest quality harvests.
On another note, he said that it was essential to encourage young people to engage in farming.
Pillar said since young people are more interested in quick profit business initiatives they should take advantage of the profitable drought-tolerant crops.
Pillar suggested that given the current scarcity of sorghum people should also consider planting sorghum which is in demand.
“They ought to consider using organic seeds when planting sorghum as they are more desirable than hybrid seeds,” he continued.
He also emphasised the importance of farmers to embrace and mitigate climate change in order to continue securing the nation’s food security.