The Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) has invested millions over years on the provision of mechanization for the benefit of emerging and subsistence farmers in the province.

“Mechanization is critical in crop production and for many years communities have not exploited the benefits of this input from the department,” DRDAR MEC Xolile Nqatha said.

He was speaking during the handing over of nine tractors and its implements as well as hay making machinery worth R2.3 million at the Qamata Irrigation Scheme.

The equipment will be used by farmers in the Chris Hani district and the MEC said he hopes the machinery will be handled with care for the benefit of all farmers.

The machinery from the department will be managed by the Chris Hani Development Agency in a partnership with DRDAR.

DRDAR bought the machinery for farmers who are producing hay in the Chris Hani District Municipality while the tractors and implements will be used for mechanization services in the district’s cropping programme.

“We are currently working with private sector partners to commercialize agriculture in the province as part of the Agriculture Economic Transformation Strategy,” the MEC said.

In the Chris Hani District, DRDAR is working with GrainSA in its cropping programme and in Intsika Yethu municipality, where the event was held, 446 subsistence farmers that work on 516 hectares of land have been supported with mechanization. More than 340 of these farmers are women.

MEC Nqatha said the hay making machinery came at a right time as farmers were battling with drought, adding that there was a “huge market for hay in this district given the fact that most of our feedlots area based in Chris Hani.”

“Produce hay and sell it to local farmers, you must work hard in such a way that you surpass other districts in other provinces such as the Northern Cape who are known for hay production in the country.

The MEC said climate change was a reality that we are living with, “I therefore call upon our researchers in Dohne to provide cultivars that are going to be drought resistant so that we ensure food security in our province.”

Abathembu Traditional leadership led by Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima supported and were excited about the initiative. He pleaded with Abathembu community that they must not destroy the structures that are already built by the government.

“You should take care of them as they are the only way to food security. In doing so we will be avoiding seeing agriculture in this Province being outsourced,” Matanzima said.