adminTawanda Mangoma Chiredzi Correspondent
THE government is concerned with the under-utilisation of land at sugarcane plantations in the lowveld and blames “cellphone” farmers for stifling growth in the sector.
In an interview, the Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development responsible for crops, Cde Davis Marapira said government is going to come up with targets and recommendations to repossess land from those failing to utilise the properties.
He said they are waiting for the outcome of the ongoing land audit which would help them weed out cellphone farmers who are stifling the sector’s growth.
“As the Ministry of Agriculture we are not happy with the underutilisation of farms mainly in the sugar plantations. We have noted that some farms have abandoned their farms for years and this has resulted in the growth of shrubs and grass on land which used to be utilised under irrigation farming,” said Cde Marapira.
He said all struggling sugarcane farmers are not operating from the ground and are not aware of the support which Tongaat Hullet is rendering.
“If you look at farmers who are struggling in the sugar industry, they are not on the ground to face the real business at their farms. They are just cellphone farmers who are good at delegating duties over the phone. What they only did was to collect land, turn a blind eye to ignore the real benefits of farming. He or she cannot engage Tongaat Hullett for support because he is not aware of the developments on the ground. Farm workers now seem to be land owners because they are always present,” he said.
Cde Marapira said his ministry is drafting targets which A2 farmers are expected to meet with failures likely to lose their land.
“After the land audit we are going to set targets which we expect all sugarcane farmers to meet. One hectare of sugarcane should give you 100 tonnes of raw sugar and failure to achieve that we would then recommend to the Ministry of Lands to withdraw land from failures and give to serious farmers,” said Cde Marapira.
The deputy minister said tightening of screws would push farmers to think outside the box and adopt productive measures that would stimulate growth in the industry.
“Sugarcane farmers are considered A2 farmers, they are not smallholder. People must see agriculture as a very serious business venture and that’s the only way which can fuel growth in the industry,” said Marapira.
derick.khumalo