Martin Endjala
Minister of Agriculture Water Land, and Reform Calle Schlettwein believes that self-sufficiency is durable if the right practices and modern agricultural practices are done right.
The Minister said this during his recent visit to the B2Gold Mine’s Agricultural farm in the Otjozondjupa region.
The farm is currently harvesting wheat on three centre pivots of 15 hectares, it is further projected that the farm harvest will yield 12 tons of wheat per hectare.
The Minister highlighted that with yields between 10-12 tons, the goal of becoming self-sufficient is much closer.
“We have green schemes with a total surface area of 27,000 hectares, and if you calculate ten times 27,000, you are far beyond the 150,000 tons we need.
“So I believe that self-sufficiency is durable if we follow the right practice, if we do follow the modern agricultural practices, where you have a double harvest on each piece of land, that is millies, maize, in summer or winter, you can have two yields in one summer and double your income,” said the Minister.
Schletttwein said he believes it is durable and the mining farm is showing signs that it can be done, and in terms of capital, a pivot of the size of the farm can feed a family with two harvests per year, one in maize and one in wheat.
Stating that this is an indication that agriculture is the area where the government can quickly and without too much effort get families out of poverty and get them into a living standard that dignifies people and feeds the nation at the same time.
Thereby denoting that agriculture is the area where government and private sectors need to invest and go ahead by intensifying with what they have.
The lawmaker said that the B2Gold farm’s estimated harvest yield of 12 tons a hectare, is three times better compared to the green schemes that the country currently has, which are estimated to harvest about four tons per hectare if they are lucky.
He said this phenomenal discovery of special variety being done by the B2Gold farm serves as a testimony that it can be done if the current green schemes adopt similar farming practices.
He emphasised that this improvement in yields illustrates the importance of how one treats the soil in terms of varieties one uses, how well one irrigates the soil, and fertilisers used, which are what determine how well your yield will be in terms of harvesting.
