Dikoloti Advocates Smart Farming

Applying climate smart agriculture can help farmers prepare for the predicted calamity of el niño in the upcoming ploughing season. Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, said the time was now for farmers to start planning. “As we prepare for the anticipated El Niño conditions, access to reliable weather information has become essential for agricultural planning.

Climate information enables farmers to make better decisions regarding planting dates, crop selection, water management, and risk mitigation. Climate-smart agriculture is no longer optional but a necessity,” said Dr Dikoloti when addressing farmers at the DEKALB maize live harvesting demonstrations at Mosisedi Farms in the Goodhope District on Friday. He said with the possible development of el niño conditions in the coming ploughing season, farmers must consider ploughing according to reliable seasonal forecasts, select hybrids that fit the expected rainfall pattern, avoid over-populating fields where water may become limiting, and ensure that weed control was effective from the start so that every millimetre of rainfall benefits the crop.

Speaking during a live demonstration of maize harvest, Dr Dikoloti highlighted that successful maize production was not based on seed alone or population alone, but on the correct combination of hybrid choice, plant density, soil fertility, moisture management, and timely agronomic decisions. “This is how we build resilience, protect profitability, and strengthen food security even under uncertain climate conditions,” he said. He said Botswana continued to import significant quantities of maize every year which presented an opportunity for local farmers.

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“We will begin as a ministry to give a weekly report of tonnes of maize entering the country on a weekly basis to provide data,” he said. He said plans were to turn around the economic impact of Agriculture through implementation of progressive policies adding that government had invested a lot in agriculture, but the financing part needed to be improved. “We have been investing in inputs rather than rewarding the output which has stalled progress.

We have been financing Agricultural activities rather than the value chains to strengthen them and so we are going to transform this,” he said. He underscored application of sound farming practices at individual farmer level noting, “if we increase productivity through improved seed, better agronomic practices, and efficient farm management, we can reduce our dependence on imports, strengthen national food security, and create wealth within our farming communities.” Furthermore, Dr Dikoloti said the ministry needed to close the monitoring and evaluation gaps with regards to research on hybrid seeds to ensure optimal benefits to the farmer. “Research must be done on the DEKALB maize hybrid seed.

The academia need to come a lot closer. The good tonnage of maize per hectare that Mr Cronje gets from the DEKALB maize seed can only be found in books only and so it is important to share such information with other farmers,” he said. Botswana Meteorological Services representative, Ms Lorraine Ketshabile, said scientists worked round the clock to monitor the El Niño.

She revealed that the June, July, and August report reflected that its intensity was between weak to moderate but from September, October and November the intensity of the Elnino would increase to around 90 per cent. The potential disaster she said indicated a high probability of below-normal rainfall, rising temperatures, and growing pressure on water and food systems across the country. “We must adequately prepare for El Niño as farmers and have mitigation and adaptation strategies in place, we encourage climate smart farming, we recommend the drought tolerant varieties during this time of dry spells,” she said.

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