The Government of Lesotho (GoL) has committed a 30 percent subsidy to Basotho farmers buying tractors from a local dealership called Agri-Solution Centre (ASC).
This was revealed by the Lesotho Post Bank Agriculture Officer in the Agriculture Segment, Ms. Chere Leokaoke during an ASC tractor operation training and expo on Wednesday at FTC.
Ms. Leokaoke said the subsidy will be given to farmers on condition that they plough 25 hectares fields and have 10 percent collateral for the agricultural bank loan which comes in the form of money or assets.
ASC Operation Manager, Mr. Khakanyo Ratikane said their event was a response to farmer’s request which they made around February this year.
“We want farmers to easily access agricultural machinery like McCormick and Landini tractors which are not cheap but through farmers’ collaboration, help from the bank and subsidy from the government, they will afford,” he said.
He said following the expo, they expect Basotho to buy so to increase their production.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition (MAFSN) aims to eradicate hunger and food insecurity. Therefore, this initiative is aimed at addressing that through this initiative,” said Ratikane.
Speaking to the Agency, the District Crop Production Officer (DCPO), Mrs. ‘Mampai Mokone said MAFSN has embarked on mobilising farmers to move from subsistence farming to commercial, saying it is through machinery accessibility that they can succeed.
“We invited this company along with the bank to explain on how farmers can access their services in response to the ministry’s call for farmers to commercialise farming,” she said adding “currently production is less due to lack of resources.”
She said the district has less than ten farmers with tractors and most of them are based at Letlapeng Resource Centre which makes it difficult for other farmers to access them.
“Some farmers end up ploughing late waiting for tractors,” she said.
Mrs. Mokone added “I wish farmers could take advantage of this opportunity at their disposal because we have seen how challenging it is to grow farming.”
Recently, Letlapeng Resource Centre Extension Officer, Ms. Molefali Moteka urged farmers to practice block farming schemes to beat hunger and poverty.
Block farming was initiated by the government in a bid to boost production among small-scale farmers.
It entails a group of farmers in the same community farming in uniform practice, receiving inputs such as seed, labour and machinery from the government in exchange for a portion of their produce.
Ms. Moteka said the district is faced with lack of unity amongst farmers which hampers their progress.
“We have been encouraging block farming for the longest time with no luck as we still have fields that are not planted. With the ASC presence, I hope this will be a thing of the past,” she said.
One of the participants, Mr. Matela Fako of Ha-Mosuoe commented on ASC for the initiative, saying through the training he learnt how to operate his tractor.
“I learnt that I used harmful products unaware that I am destroying my tractor, and the training was quite eye opening and I am happy,” he said.
ASC, a company established in June 2022 is a supplier of environmentally friendly machinery with the mission of supporting robust crop production and other services to Basotho.
Source: LENA 17/04/2024
