Show committee chairman Joseph Seipato said it will not have been ideal to run the show without exhibits. He explained that usually about 15,000 hectares of land is ploughed annually in the Mmadinare area but this year only 1,080 hectares were ploughed just a week before the close of the ploughing season in February.
“The biggest challenge was also finances because most local farmers are just subsistence farmers who rely on rainfall for their produce. Again there was no guarantee that the little tilled land would produce any harvest. Hence, it will not have been economically viable to hold the agricultural show,” he explained. He however acknowledged that the absence of the agricultural show has affected farmers as they lost out on the opportunity to showcase their harvest. He added that even the business community who use the agricultural show platform to market their businesses also lost out. “The show is also considered an educational tool as it accords benchmarking platforms and skills exchange between farmers hence the absence of the show also affect the education aspect,” he added. Seipato expressed hope that they will be able to hold another show next year if rainfall permits.
