by Olwetu Batyi | Apr 8, 2021 | atp1
DRDAR strengthens farming culture in Gqugesi Village
FARMERS operating in different commodities in the rural Gqugesi Village of Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape have received a major boost from government to help them further their farming ambitions .
Earlier today, President Cyril Ramaphosa accompanied by Ministers, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and some provincial MEC’s of different government departments including Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform(DRDAR) MEC Nonkqubela Pieters visited Gqugesi Village to unveil a memorial plaque in celebration of what would have been a 150th birthday of the late freedom fighter, Charlotte Maxeke.
Fort Beaufort in the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality is known for its major contribution in citrus production and exports, livestock and crop production. To help strengthen the farming activities in the area, Pieters handed over two Bonsmara bulls to the community of Gqugesi / Lower Blinkwater as part of the department’s livestock improvement programme through improved genetic material.
The two bulls will join a herd of other livestock of superior genetics that were handed over to farmers in the 2020/21 Financial Year.
The department had aided the local livestock farming groups with two Bonsmara Bulls, ten Dohne Merino ewes, ten Boer Does, two Brahman Bulls, nine Dohne Merino Rams, 10 Boer Goat Bucks, one Tuli Bull, 10 Tuli Heifers and 10 Bonsmara Heifers.
On top of this, Pieters catapulted four co-operative crop producers, namely Thembalabantu, Lee Magamle Ltd, Khathala Community Garden and Sinemizamo with 8000 vegetable seedlings (2000 spinach, 2000 beetroot, 2000 cabbage and 2000 onion) and 10 sets of gardening tools.
With the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality being among the areas that were hard-hit by severe drought that resulted in livestock feed shortages, DRDAR further gave local farmers a steppingstone towards the augmentation of a fodder production.
“The Lucerne production inputs in the form of Lucerne seeds, fertiliser, inoculant, herbicides will see fodder production extend by 10ha in the Gqugesi / Lower Blinkwater area. This will in turn produce 180 tons of Lucerne in this coming production season,” said Pieters.
She added: “Furthermore, hay-making equipment will also be handed over to this community to support fodder conservation.”
Livestock farmer, Zenzile Nxitywa said local farmers embraced and supported the livestock improvement programme as it placed them on a level where they would be able to provide what the market needed.
“Many of us in the community have sheep, goats and cattle but they are mixed breeds. Because of this, we have a limited market. Few meat traders buy from us because they come looking for specific breeds. Even wool traders with large flock of sheep still fail to produce high quality wool but this is definitely going to change. We have merino lambs now and our flocks are changing at a high rate,” he said.
Furthermore, MEC Pieters handed over two tractors that will be based at DRDAR’s Mpofu Training Centre and the two machines will provide support to farmers whenever a need arise.
Nomvuyo Kama of Thembalabantu –a local vegetable co-op said the tractors would breathe life to other vegetable producers and household food producers who had stopped working their gardens due to consistent mechanical breakdowns on the one tractor that serviced the Gqubesi and Blinkwater villages.
by Olwetu Batyi | Apr 1, 2021 | atp1
DRDAR scoops two prestigious award
The department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) scooped two prestigious Batho Pele Service Excellence Awards from the Office of the Premier for its contribution in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 virus by producing sanitisers and cloth masks.
The department’s institutes, Tsolo Agriculture and Rural Development Institute (TARDI) in Tsolo and Dhone Agriculture and Rural Development Research Institute based in Stutterheim flied the department’s flag high by scooping gold awards during the provincial awards.
The institutes were awarded the outstanding contribution during the Covid-19 national lockdown for Best New Comer of the Year 2020/2021 with TARDI producing cloth masks and Dohne making sanitizers in programme where it partnered with the Rhodes University.
According to the institute’s principal and initiator of the programme Dr Toyota Ndudane, TARDI won the prize by “thinking out of the box by producing cloth masks before it was made mandatory to wear masks”
“This shows the importance of not being scared to present the idea and I am happy that it was well accepted by the department and that has motivated us.
As the team we are very excited, feel honoured and appreciated. What one is doing in a little corner can make an impact,” said Dr Ndudane.
Dr Ndudane said she approached her sister who donated the initiate investment of R10 000 to kick-start the programme that was supported by the department with R45 000 and it is still continuing to produce the masks that are distributed across the province.
Dr Thembakazi Silwana a recipient of an award for Donhe told of a story about how “I came back empty handed when I went to buy a sanitizer. The following morning I met with specialists in our lab to see if we can start doing sanitisers because we had resources.
“Thanks to the support of acting HoD Bongi Dayimani because when he heard about this initiative he gave us all the necessary resources and today we have a dedicated lab that produce them .
We are very excited and feel motivated as the team to be recognized by the whole province.
Donhe is producing a mixture of 80% alcohol-based sanitiser from ethanol, glycerol and hydrogen peroxide in line with the World Health Organisation regulations.
by Olwetu Batyi | Mar 29, 2021 | atp1
Agricultural studies revived: intergovernmental relations in action was evident when National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development alongside the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform donated gardening tools to three Healdtown-based schools. This will see the revival of agricultural studies in the institutions.
This will see , Daliwonga, Rhwantsana and Masizakhe High schools working and producing in their gardens and supplement the state-subsidized school nutrition programme.
Today’s donation was a continuation of the schools garden and right to learn campaign that was launched in Ngqushwa yesterday by Minister of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thokozile Didiza accompanied by Eastern Cape DRDAR, MEC Nonkqubela Pieters where they also distributed gardening tools, school supplies and sanitary towels to pupils.
Local vegetable co-operatives also benefited from the programme.
by Olwetu Batyi | Mar 25, 2021 | atp1
DRDAR MEC Nonkqubela Pieters tabling the 2021/22 Policy Speech at the Eastern Cape Legislature.
by Olwetu Batyi | Mar 25, 2021 | atp1
Campaign to make ‘own food’ fashionable
THE National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development in partnership with the Eastern Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform are inculcating a culture of ‘own food’ production at both school and household level.
Today [March 25] the two institutions which are both catalyst of agriculture set foot in Ngqushwa under the Amathole District Municipality to launch the School Food Gardens and Right to Learn Campaign.
At the launch the two departments handed over gardening tools to local co-operatives and two local schools, namely Feni Primary and Nathaniel Pamla High. Learners from the two institutions of learning were also aided with backpacks and sanitary towels as means of support and creating conducive learning environment.
With DRDAR pushing households to produce their own food and the Nathaniel Pamla High offering Agricultural studies as a compulsory subject though resources are limited, the departments managed to kill two birds with one stone.
Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thokozile Didiza said the gardening tools would entice learners to pursue agriculture studies even beyond school premises.
“Family members of some of the learners here are part of crop-producing initiatives in the community. And them having unlimited access to gardening tools is going to help them perfect the art of working the land and producing their own food. Even the school will be able to produce its own vegetables and meet the state-subsidized nutrition programme. Agriculture, crop production in particular mustn’t be used as punishment at schools where mischievous pupils are sent to water plants. It makes children see the sector as a form of punishment and undesirable field,” said Didiza.
The Ngqushwa area is among those that are experiencing water shortages in the Amathole District -something that hinders fluent agricultural production.
The newly appointed MEC for DRDAR in the Eastern Cape, Nonkqubela Pieters advised household food producers to look into rainwater harvesting as one of the low-cost ways to access water.
“Most parts of the province were hard hit by drought and its effects are still felt in some areas even today hence we have taken it upon ourselves to revitalize and drill boreholes. But there are even other ways a household food producer can use in order to have water for their crops and livestock like harvesting rainwater and store the precious resource in containers like tanks and buckets. We need to be creative in times like these,” said Pieters.
Didiza added that government would also look closely into the National programme of ‘one hectare; one household’ which assists households to acquire land so they can grow their own food.
She said that with the sanitary towels they wanted to bring an end to the prominent culture of school girls not going to school when they are on periods –a phenomenon that tramples on their right to education.
Grade 12 learner at Nathaniel Pamla High, Yolisa Marambana is among the pupils who wish to pursue agricultural studies and effectively carve a career in the field.
Marambana said that as much as they were passionate about agriculture, limited resources doused their spark for the sector.
“It’s demotivating because some of the things we are taught in the classroom remained an unproven theory but with the tools we received today I believe a lot will change,” she said.
The co-operatives that bagged crop-watering material, shovels, hoes, seedlings, wheelbarrows among the tools produce various types of vegetables sell their produce to local markets and in the process circulating money around the Ngqushwa area.
Nobubele Mkoko of Zamukhanyo Project said the tools would help them maximize their business.
The two government departments will extend the programme to Emabheleni Village in Healdtown tomorrow just outside Fort Beaufort.
