FARMERS in the OR Tambo District are to receive 21 tractors to boost agricultural production
FARMERS in the OR Tambo District are to receive 21 tractors to boost agricultural production, the MEC for the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development Nonkqubela Pieters has announced. Pieters was speaking at an Imbizo held at AmaMpondomise Kingdom’s Upper Kroza Great Place in Qumbu, Mhlontlo Municipality.
Addressing farmers, chiefs in the presence of King Zwelozuko Matiwane and Queen Siyonwabele,Pieters said, the tractors would be handed over to assist farmers in the district to move from treating farming as a hobby but as a business. The machinery includes six brand new and 15 refurbished tractors. She also donated a fully equipped tractor with a three row planter, heavy duty disc, Nguni bull, 10 wheelbarrows and seedlings.
The donation is but a drop in the ocean compared to the investment made by the Department for various programmes In the 2021/22 financial year, DRDAR spent R6 million for sheep and R8 million for cattle under its Livestock Improvement Scheme across the province. The District farming community was assisted with 305 sheep and 55 cattle at a cost of R3 million and 1, 3 million respectively.
Mhlontlo farmers received 121 sheep and 36 cattle worth R1,3 million – this aimed at improving both wool and meat qualityfrom communal sheep and cattle in the area. To boost productivity from wool sheep farming, between year 2018 and 2022, DRDAR constructed 10 shearing sheds - five in Tsolo and five in Qumbu at a cost of R10,9 million.
For further support on livestock development in the Municipality, nine stock dams at a cost of R5 494 373 were repaired and desilted, seven diptanks were renovated with R900 000, four (4) boreholes R1 585 048 were constructed and a feedlot at Mthozela location was built and supported with feed at a cost of R2 193 624 On crop production, from 2018/19 to 2021/22 financial DRDAR supported farming community with more than R20 million that covered 4578 ha of land. In the past four years, DRDAR further supported crop producing farmers by fencing off 94km of their grain fields at a cost of R4 093 866 in 13 villages.
In the household food security programme a total of 3 600 households were supported in the past 4 years with vegetable production inputs including seedlings, fertilizer and chemicals as a cost of R7, 2 million. Preceeding the handover, was the community imbizo where residents of Mhlontlo from both Qumbu and Tsolo raised challenges they are faced with pertaining to farming.
Among the challenges raised were lack of access to markets for farmers, making agriculture compulsory at schools and lack of storage facilities for grain. Responding to the farmers, MEC Pieters said charged Departmental officials to assist farmers with access to markets, particularly those that are in grain production.
She also decried the theft of livestock saying that the Department wanted to promote livestock branding. She said the tracking of animals which is being piloted at Dohne Agricultural Development Institute would improve the security of animals the province. Farmers in the province have been complained about what they term animal jacking where criminals take their livestock by force.
Those who resist face fatal consequences. The Department also brought services on wheels to the Rural community, including rabies vaccination, African horse sickness vaccination, anti and post-mortem.
For more information please contact:
Mr Thozi Manyisana
Cell: 082 494 3600
