TOTUMA farmers raise the barn
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday May 3, 2016 15:32
Ralotsia said this during the annual field day organised by Tonota, Tutume and Masunga (TOTUMA) Commercial Farmers Association held at Stephen Pillar’s farm recently.
The field day was held under the theme, ‘Integrating crop and livestock farming technologies, a captivating link in the wake of climate change’.
Ralotsia expressed happiness that the good yields from TOTUMA farmers will be able to feed the country with sorghum this year.
“Apart from Pandamatenga farmers in the north west of Botswana, I am proud to say TOTUMA farmers are the second best producers looking at their harvest despite the poor rains this year,” said Ralotsia. He added that he was proud of their hard work and dedication towards farming.
He congratulated the farmers for having found it fit to have formed an association in which they assist each other with farming technologies. He was also grateful that farmers have managed to get good yields regardless of poor rains.
Ralotsia applauded farmers on their efforts to benchmark on farming skills from well-established organisations like Agric Fountain who were the main sponsor of the event.
He said as government their mandate is to see local farmers being able to produce enough food to feed the country.
Ralotsia said government spends a lot of money importing food from other countries because Batswana are failing to produce enough food locally.
“This is a concern to government because people are given farming land for free but fail to utilise it. I am proud of your efforts in farming, please help us stop importation of food that can be produced locally,” appealed Ralotsia. He said Batswana are currently failing to utilise close to a million hectares of land allocated to them for farming.
He said only a third of this land is being utilised with only 300,000 tonnes of crops per year being produced.
He stated that TOTUMA farmers have proven to have the potential of being fodder producers.
“With many hectares of lab-lab ploughed in this area I am proud to say that the import of fodder can be stopped. This country also has the potential of producing enough fodder,” said Ralotsia. He pleaded with farmers to continue being major producers of fodder as it is also a profitable undertaking just like sorghum.
He said during drought season government usually supplies farmers with imported fodder whilst that money could be spent on local farmers.
Ralotsia called on farmers to continue utilising the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development, otherwise popularly known by its acronym, ISPAAD, to improve their farming business.
“Government supplies farmers with seeds, fertilisers, chemicals, ploughing equipment for free but some people take them and never make attempts of ploughing hence leaving them to go to waste,” said Ralotsia.
Ralotsia told farmers that this financial year through the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) government will drill boreholes in farms so that farmers could be able to produce enough food to feed the country.
For his part the host farmer, Pillar who for years has been specialising in fodder production, said he was advised early this year to also plough sorghum and is happy that his yields are good and expecting to harvest more than 1,000 tonnes.
“Out of 150 hectares I have here I managed to plough 70 hectares of sorghum and used the other portion to plough lab-lab but looking at my produce I wish I could have only ploughed sorghum,” said Ralotsia.
Earlier, the chairperson of TOTUMA farmers association, Priscilla Monthe disclosed that TOTUMA farmers ploughed around 2,000 hectares of a variety of sorghum called Pannar and 150 hectares of fodder (lab-lab).