By Helvy Shaanika
ONGWEDIVA – The government will from this season subsidise the use of draught animals for ploughing by communal farmers.
The subsidy will be N$200 per hectare for a maximum of three hectares per crop field ploughed, revealed the agriculture ministry’s public relations officer, Constance Mwilima.
Apart from subsidies for ploughing, Mwilima said government will also subsidise by 50 percent the costs of seeds for mahangu, sorghum, maize and beans. Fertilizers will be also sold at subsidised prices.
“We are wishing our farmers a bumper harvest since there is an indication of better rainfall this year,” said Mwilima.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry has until now been subsidising the use of privately owned tractors in the effort to make ploughing affordable to communal farmers.
“Anyone that has donkeys or horses and wants to provide [ploughing] services to other farmers can register.”
“If you have a farm which is bigger than three hectares and you use the livestock services, government will only subsidise for three hectares,” said Mwilima.
Mwilima said the use of draught animals is part of the ministry’s ongoing Dry Land Crop Production Programme.
Farmers in the northern regions have welcomed the government initiative, maintaining that the scarcity of tractors delays the cultivation process.
Simon Shidute from Oidiva village said some villagers have donkeys and oxen but are reluctant to loan them to their neighbours without compensation.
“Some avail their animals but they charge a lot of money for a very small piece of land. I am glad that government has now set a standard [fee with the subsidy],” said Shidute.
Meanwhile, a number of field owners have started ploughing as it continues raining in the north.
However, some farmers claim that even though government has introduced livestock ploughing subsidies, they will still struggle as a number of livestock including donkeys died during last year’s drought.
Earlier, the Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (Sarcof) announced that from October 2014 to March 2015, SADC countries were likely to receive normal to above-normal rainfall for the period October to December 2014.
Sarcof predicted that from November to January and also from December to February, the whole country will have a 35 percent probability of above-normal rainfall, a 40 percent chance of normal rainfall, and a 25 percent chance of below-normal rainfall.