Villagers hopeful of bumper harvest

KEABETSWE NEWEL
Correspondent | Wednesday November 10, 2010 00:00

As a result, Makobo village was a hive of activity over the past weekend as many people could be seen in their fields, doing bush clearing and mending fences ready for ploughing. Tractor owners have also serviced their machines to prepare them for clients who want to have their fields ploughed by tractor.

Chingo Maphorisa, a well-known farmer in the village, who never allows a year to slip by without ploughing her field, was among those preparing their fields.

In an interview, she said that she was busy cutting down shrubs that had grown in the field after the previous harvest.

'I am also trying to repair my fence that had collapsed; I have a challenge of replacing the gum-poles and I am still waiting to replace them before ploughing to prevent livestock from entering and destroying the field,' Maphorisa said.

The woman, who also owns a tractor for hire, said she had it fully serviced. She said that her children were busy ploughing other people's fields for a fee. She said that they have completed one field already.

'However, my tractor is not registered with the government programme so I could plough free of charge for people; I charge P550 per hectare,' she said.

Another farmer, Elicar Fanah, said that she was also removing bushes in her field. She said that she was hopeful for a better yield this year since it seems Botswana may have one of the wettest summers in many years.

'Last year I did not plough since I suspected there would be less rain, this year though it seems all will be well which is why I have decided to prepare for ploughing, 'Fanah said.

Fanah intends to plough before the end of this month. Thandi Mbulawa also told Mmegi in an interview that recent rainfall has raised their hopes for a better harvest.

The woman, who spoke as she held a sack that contained sorghum seeds, said that she started preparing her fields on Thursday and she was awaiting Maphorisa's tractor to come to her field.

She said that ploughing makes her life easier because after a good harvest food is never a problem. 'With a bumper harvest I am also able to sell the surplus to raise funds to buy other things I need,' Mbulawa added.

Another veteran farmer in the village Dineo Blackie, who is always among the first to roll up her sleeves every year, was found resting after a hard day's work in the fields.

'I always plough and want to be amongst the earliest. But it is not always easy because we do not have the necessary resources to make our farming more profitable,' she complained.

According to her, she was in the process of bush clearing her field before ploughing but she does not have the money to pay the tractor owners.

'Tractor owners need money; even those registered with the government to help us for free say they need fuel for their tractors. We have also been waiting for free seeds from the government but to no avail,' Blackie lamented.

Blackie said they had heard several times on radio and the media that there would be more rain this year and that they were looking forward to a positive harvest despite the odds. 'Morale among us is so high that we have decided to invest our meagre resources in our fields with hopes for better returns,' she said.