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From: vetkasi@gmail.com
Email: vetkasi@gmail.com
Headline: Mines' Boss Advises Kweneng Farmers
Link:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708280459.html
27 August 2007: Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe
General Manager for Orapa and Letlhakane diamond mines, Sebetela Sebetela has warned farmers in Lentsweletau, Kweneng District to swim or sink after they failed to devise ways to overcome this year's drought.
The mine manager sounded the alarm bells because only 12 of the area's over 700 farmers have harvested this season. Sebetela was speaking at the Kweneng North 2007 Agricultural show held in the village, 60km North-West of Gaborone.
The theme of the show was: "Drought is a Natural Disaster; Be Bold To Face Its Effects". It was a year of despair for farmers in the region as only 142 ploughed, compared to the usual 737 who planted 3047.04 hectares in the previous season. The Department of Crop Production says that out of the 142 who ploughed, only 12 harvested.
Three of the 12 got 157.5kg of groundnuts at Kgope, six harvested 750kg of cowpeas at Medie, while the remaining three from Botlhapatlou harvested 120kg of sorghum. Sebetela told the farmers that their farming methods are partly to blame for the poor harvest. He advised them to diversify their farming methods or perish. He warned the farmers against planting one crop and urged them to diversify.
"It is paramount to plant those crops like groundnuts, cowpeas, jugo beans, watermelons, that have proved to be drought resistant as evidenced by those farmers at Medie, Kgope and Botlhapatlou, who managed to harvest something from their fields," he advised. He suggested that the farmers should start vegetable and fruit production farming. "It is imperative that diversification should be part of our daily consideration. We should be practising good ranch management where we could rotate our livestock in ranch's paddocks," he said. He suggested that farmers should diversify into keeping small stock, which are drought resistant as compared to cattle. "Small stock provide all products like meat, milk, skins, just like cattle," he added.
He told the farmers to plant fodder for feeding livestock during drought. Sebetela said people should also look into alternatives such as poultry and piggery, which could be more beneficial than the traditional farming.
He said Kweneng North has been chosen as a pilot project for the implementation of the National Master Plan for Arable Agriculture and Dairy Development (NAMPAADD). He urged the 25 farmers chosen to pilot some of the technologies such as minimum tillage, plant population, pest control and moisture conservation, to adapt well to the new systems and be a source of information to others.
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