Agrinews February 2013 - Ministry of Agriculture

for traditional dry land farmers toimprove crop yield.Kelethametse Khubuetsile alsofrom Xhumo is uncomfortablewith a price of P150/ha for rowplanting which is recommendedby ISPAAD. “As a tractor owner Ican not repeat the same field withP150/ha for row planting.”Khubuetsile who acknowledgedthat he charges farmers P150/ha more than the ISPAADrecommended price of P400/hafor ploughing said instead of rowplanting, he will rather plough forthose who broadcast and move tothe next field for P550/ha.The reason for doing that isbecause of high fuel prices whichis at P10/L for diesel and runningthree different implements on thesame field is not cost effective totractor owners.Khubutsile who is not registeredwith ISPAAD said he has a planterbut never used it because it is notprofitable looking at fuel usageand hence request for the reviewof these prices and be attached tocurrent state of fuel prices.Deputy Chairperson of FarmersCommittee in Mmatshumovillage Keletshabile Boatametsehas observed that, besides poorrainfall which has been primarilyassociated with poor harvest inthe past years, this year’s rainfallforecast has something in storefor them, the P200/ha paid byfarmers for fuel will negativelyaffect the harvest.She said what makes it worse isthe condition of donkeys whichthey mostly use to till the smallfarms they have and Boatametseexplain that, their draft powersare recovering slowly from lastyear’s drought as receive goodrain in mid January.She said draft powers, in mostcases recue small farmers in eventsuch as this but they cannot utilizethem in their poor condition. Asa result they will feel the painof high fuel price as they nowdepend on it for them to catchup with the soil moisture andconsequently they have to facethe ruthless of tilling the soil withfuel. The ISPAAD Coordinator,Ministry of Agriculture, MrLepodise Telekelo said when thisprogramme was initiated 2008the fuels prices were as high asthe current situation, therefore,the problem with tractor ownersmaybe with the spare parts whichhe acknowledge are expensive.Telekelo is positive that withcareful planning with these pricestractor owners can still makeprofit, hence advised them toalways prepare on time prior tothe growing season. He gave anexample of obtaining seasonalloans from local financialinstitutions which they can useto buy fuel in advance to avoidcharging farmers during thegrowing season.When commenting on the issuewhere tractor owners preferto plough at a price of P400rather than P150 of raw planting,Telekelo said this may not bebecause of the price money butrather the window of operation.He described the window ofoperation in this country asnarrow, therefore pressing onfarmers to use the little rainfallreceived in a short space of time.In this circumstances where thereis shortage of tractors, Telekelosaid farmers may be forced tobroadcast in order to avoidmissing out during the period ofgood of rains.The coordinator also reassuredfarmers that ISPAAD programmeis under review and if thereare some changes, they will beimplemented in the next growingseason.February 2013 12