Barolong farmers dance in the rain :: Mmegi Online

This time last year, farmers in Borolong watched in disbelief as their crops wilted in heatwave after heatwave, a region known as a breadbasket in Botswana slowly turning into a hearth. This week, Mmegi Correspondent, TUMELO MOUWANE found farmers, especially the youth, brimming with optimism

Last season, government had to caution farmers here to desist from planting cereals. The region, though known for its good production, was receiving the harshest of the 2015/16 El Nino phenomenon, which caused the worst drought in 35 years.

This season, however, Barolong farmers are confident that once again they will be able to fill the Pitsane silos with produce, especially maize that is dominating most of the fields here. The Pitsane silos, a landmark on the road to Ramatlabama, are part of the Strategic Grain Reserves managed by the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB).

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