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.