Despair in Mmadinare as ploughing season ends
Friday, February 13, 2015
Square one: Some farmers have resorted to donkey- drawn ploughs for tillage
As the ploughing seasons ends this week, despair has set in in Mmadinare, as most farmers are yet to plant, despite tilling the soil last October.
Yields are expected to be lower than the previous year and farmers blame the tractor owners engaged by government to till their fields, under the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD).
Acting Agriculture Minister, Edwin Dikoloti, is right in saying opening an export-ready facility whilst Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is still spreading would risk getting the whole country blacklisted before a single carcass leaves the door.A ban like that would break the already stressed nation. So, the postponement, painful as it is, is the right thing to do. The local economy is being squeezed from both ends. FMD has already slammed the door...