Govt launches tillage scheme for smallholder farmers

GOVERNMENT, through the District Development Fund (DDF), has launched the Small Holder Farmers' Tillage Scheme that will see communal farmers benefitting from tillage services for an acre each for the 2020/21 agricultural season.

The launch was held at the Swaithe Resettment area, Ward 20, in Umzigwane District, Matabeleland South Province on Wednesday.

DDF in partnership with the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement will provide tractors, drivers and fuel for the tillage programme that is expected to be rolled out to the rest of the country soon.

Government came up with the idea to till an acre for each small holder communal farmer after the realisation that the farmers' cattle died as a result of droughts over the last few seasons thus draught power was becoming a huge challenge.

Guest of honour at the event, Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Abednico Ncube said the tillage scheme is meant to help communal farmers recover from the effects of drought in order to achieve food security at household level.

"This facility is designed by the Government to assist the small holder farmers in the communal and resettlement areas on the backdrop of successive severe droughts in the past three or four years, which hit the province and country at large.

"The drought decimated your livestock herds and left you with inadequate or no draught power. Your buying power was also reduced as you were forced to buy household necessities like food stuffs throughout the year and in that regard very few farmers can afford to pay for tillage services. The tillage scheme is therefore meant to help farmers recover from the effects of the drought in terms of food security and nutrition at household level," said Minister Ncube, in a speech read of his behalf by Matabeleland South Provincial Development Coordinator Ms Latiso Dlamini.

Minister Ncube implored Agritex staff to assist farmers with agricultural advice on good farming practices and share with them valuable information such as seasonal rainfall forecast data.

"The tillage programme is spearheaded by the DDF, whose mandate among others, is to provide tillage services to small holder farmers but the DDF tillage fleet has been heavily depleted over the years due to wear and tear and inadequate resources for its maintenance. Consequently, this scheme is implemented mainly with hired tillage equipment from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement. I strongly denounce corrupt practices in this scheme. We do not want under-hand dealings or favouritism in this scheme," he said.

The first beneficiary of the tillage scheme Mr Neighbour Magutshwa said the Government could not have intervened on behalf of farmers at a better time. He said he lost eight beasts in the last two years due to drought.

"It's very difficult to till all my land with just two cattle, draught power is vital for us resettled farmers and once we fail to till our land at the right time then we face the prospects of hunger. "The one acre that the DDF tilled for me is sufficient to grow maize and I'll plant small grains on the other pieces of land," said Mr Magutshwa.

DDF projects it can till 63 000 hectares from this month to January next year.

For the Matabeleland South Province tillage programme to be a success, DDF has proposed that the tractors be clustered in units of five to allow easy servicing and management coupled with consistent fuel supplies and timeous release of funding for the programme.