BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – “We would encourage the Nation to start farming now should the rains come to an end, they would have already farmed.”
These words were articulated by the Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) Sydney Boy Simelane.
Simelane said the current rains that come and go should be a sign to the Nation to start farming as no one knows how long they are going to last or stop.
Worth mentioning is that the start of the farming year is often regarded as being September or October.
Harvest is in, winter crops are sown or being sown and the farm is being prepared for winter. Stock was brought closer to the farm or into barns to protect the soil and for ease of feeding. The soil starts to sleep, ready to awaken in spring.
Mabandla Showngwe, a farmer by profession, said the situation was tricky as some places in the country were already experiencing extreme drought.
“A strong El Niño event has been taking place this year. People generally welcome the wetter winters brought by El Niño, but in other parts of the world, El Niño can mean droughts, floods, crop failures, and looming food shortages,” he said.
Shongwe further mentioned that it was time to farm, right now.
“Do not put it off any longer. It is time to farm because the opportunities for success abound. It is time to farm because many of the critical resources for the beginning farmer, pure parent-seed and livestock genetics, for example, will become harder to acquire,” said Shongwe.
In addition, he said, it is time to farm because new farmers are the only answer which will ward off the accelerating development of fragile farmland into housing.
“It is time to farm because communities are searching for locally produced food,” he said.
Meanwhile, Principal Secretary Simelane encouraged farmers to pay for tractors with the Government so they can start farming right away.
