BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
MBABANE – Farmers are taking too long to start ploughing this season.
This was revealed by Nelson Mavuso, who is the Director of Agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture when speaking to Eswatini TV today. Mavuso noted that farmers were not taking advantage of the ongoing rains, even in regions of the country where they should have started ploughing by now.
“The rains we have received so far have been sufficient for a lot of places to start ploughing. We wish to see the fields tilled and germinating crops. We are therefore disappointed as we notice the slow pace around the country, whereas the first rains are very important for high yields. We encourage farmers to come out in their numbers and do what is appropriate because their crops should be in the fields by now,” said Mavuso.
He added that the outlook on the weather for this summer season is positive for farmers.
“The meteorologists have predicted normal to above normal rainfalls for this year. We believe that this is enough rainfall to sustain the crops. However, we should not forget that ‘normal’ varies depending on your region. For example, normal rainfall in the highveld is above 600 millimetres of rainfall during the rainy season, which is enough to sustain maize. When we are at Lavumisa (lowveld), on the other hand, normal is about 200 millilitres, which is very low,” said Mavuso.
He added that the Ministry of Agriculture will support farmers in the lowveld of Eswatini in making sure that they are growing crops which require less water, while continuing to encourage farmers in the highveld to start cultivating their fields as it is already overdue.
