Government has been urged to address challenges of water, electricity and genetically modified seeds faced by the Pandamatenga farmers in order to help improve production and ensure food security.
The plea was made by Pandamatenga Commercial Farmers Association Chairman Jaco Strachan during the official opening of the Chobe Agricultural Show in Pandamatenga last week.
Strachan has assured government that should existing farms in Pandamatenga be connected to the Agro – Zambezi waterline, they expect an exponential growth in production. He stated that not only will the silos fill to capacity, but the growth would open new markets never seen before in the region.
“Millions have been invested in irrigation systems and the results have been better than expected. Currently, we have about 1,000 ha of fields irrigated and used for growing potatoes, butternuts, tomatoes, and a second crop of wheat during winter time. Growing sorghum under irrigation has also been extremely successful,” he said.
On the issue of power, he requested for consideration on connecting farms to the national grid, alternatively help them build their own green power plant. This would allow farmers, to move away from diesel generators – thereby reducing both their carbon footprint, and production costs.
Regarding the GMO seeds, Strachan noted that they are lagging behind the rest of the world in production and agricultural products, arguing that their maize cannot compete with the GMO maize from South Africa and other parts of the world. He stated that all the maize imported and consumed in Botswana is from South Africa, and mostly GMO. This as Botswana prohibits the use of GMO seeds.
“This has been an on-going discussion with the Ministry of Agriculture. Farmers need to improve their production levels, and this could be achieved using GMO seeds. We respectfully request that our government look into this quite urgently,’’ he said.
Strachan regretted that farmers throughout Botswana, have had a very tough season if not the worst droughts the country has experienced in more than 40 years.
He said because of the extreme weather, commercial farmers managed to plant only 60% of their farms.
Meanwhile President Mokgweetsi Masisi said unity and collaboration amongst farmers and other related actors is a necessary strategic action for dynamic, sustainable agricultural development and there is a need to stand up as networked socio-economic units to ensure food security and economic growth.
He said that this year’s show, being “Unity and Technology for Chobe, filling the Botswana Food basket,” is very relevant to the current Reset Agenda which calls for mind-set change in ensuring that the nation feed itself, create employment and feed others. According to Masisi, the theme underscores the need for all to go into a continuous technology improvement mode which will yield better crop results.
