WINDHOEK – Namibia could face its worst ever dry land crop production in decades when the harvest season ends in February next year.
Due to the absence of rain this year, indications are that dry land crop producers will plant up to 50 percent less than in the 2012/13 season, which was already marked by a massive reduction of 48 percent below average in maize production, while mahangu yields were 47 percent below average. The lack of rain in the pre-season, that is before the commencement of planting, which should have started early in November could have a severe impact on Namibia’s coarse grain production (white maize, mahangu (pearl millet), wheat and sorghum, which yielded a total of 94 300 tonnes in the 2012/13 season. It represented a decrease in output of 27 percent below average and 43 percent lower than the previous season.
These figures are bound to plummet further this season in the absence of rain and soil moisture in all of the dry land production areas of the country. Confirming the bleak outlook for prospects in 2014,
Antoinette Venter, administrative manager of grain at the Namibian Agronomic Board, said dry land crop producers are possibly facing a worst case scenario after a decade of good rains. “To add insult to injury, many dry land crop producers have been informed by their insurance brokers that the premiums of insurance policies have shot up, because of the high risks involved in dry land farming. Because of the high risks in the absence of rains and no predictable forecast for the long-term outlook, dry land farmers will simply not be able to pay increased premiums under risky circumstances. This will almost surely result in farmers planting up to 50 percent less than last season. The consequences of this happening, are too depressing to even think of,” she said.
According to her if producers are to plant some 50 percent less than the previous season, the yield of 36 600 tonnes from 10 275 hectares of dry land will drop accordingly. “Just imagine the almost insignificantly small harvest we will get from only 5 000 hectares. The possible devastation of this abnormal situation calls for desperate measures, and the Agronomic Board is currently in talks with various institutions to bring some financial assistance to dry land producers, who are already suffering from extremely high input costs,” she said.
Venter said the alarm bells went off for dry land producers when the so called ‘small rain season’ (in October) never materialised, while hardly a drop of rain has been measured in the heart of the dry land production areas, the so-called ‘Maize Triangle’ between Grootfontein, Otavi and Tsumeb. She stressed that the situation is worsened by the fact that local producers will not be able to compete with cheaper, imported maize from South Africa and elsewhere if those countries experience good rains and good harvests. This will surely result in increased prices, she observed. Producers in the Maize Triangle to whom New Era spoke yesterday confirmed their dilemma saying the prospects of average yields are dwindling by the day. All of them confirmed that they are likely to plant much less compared to last season, saying the soil in the area has been depleted of moisture. While they could still have relied on moisture from the relatively good rains received last season, this is not the case anymore after the effects of the current drought.
Meanwhile, poor grazing conditions are threatening livestock in all the regions of the country as drought conditions intensify by the day. Reports of livestock losses are coming in from almost all parts of the country on a daily basis, due to the lack of grazing. Household food security is also deteriorating in the regions as the hunger season reaches its peak. Households in many regions have reported the depletion of their food stocks and the situation is expected to worsen in the coming weeks.
By Deon Schlechter