A word from… Nkgono Jane (again)

October 2024

I AM SO HAPPY TO BE BACK WITH YOU AND THIS WONDERFUL PROGRAMME. COMING BACK AFTER A WHILE HAS MADE ME REALISE HOW VERY IMPORTANT IT IS TO REMEMBER WHY THIS PROGRAMME EXISTS. IT IS TO HELP YOU, THE FARMER PRODUCING CEREALS, GRAINS AND OIL SEEDS, USING THE MOST MODERN PRODUCTION PRACTICES, TO USE THE LAND THAT YOU HAVE AVAILABLE, TO ENABLE YOU TO GENERATE AN INCOME.

The past few seasons have been tough. Covid-19 slowed everything down, and since then, the weather has been strange. Some areas have had too much rain, while others have experienced the worst drought ever. Strong winds have blown crops down. Severe frost and extreme heat have made farming difficult. However, as farmers, we are resilient and we always get up to plant another crop. This is what farmers do.

We are starting to service our study groups again. The visits have slowed down, but we know that it is important to meet with you so that we can establish a relationship of caring. We will be planting trials in some areas where we feel that our farmers need to see and experience other crops and different methods of doing things. The farmers’ days will continue as the point where you can meet other role players in the field. 

Training courses will continue – all aspects of farming from production to mechanisation, financial management and even succession planning. Who is going to take over your farm when you need to rest? If you can think of other topics that you would like to learn about, please let us know and we will do our best to assist you. 

The Beyond Abundance project is going forward this year. Thanks to the South African Cultivar and Technology Agency (SACTA) and the Sasol Trust, we have been able to subsidise the inputs so that you can afford to plant your hectares. We hope to be able to expand this programme going forward.

The loan funding for certain farmers continues, although we need to work on new plans here. We are hoping to be able to have comprehensive insurance in the future so that when the weather is really bad, you can still get enough money to plant again in the following season. 

From this month, October, we will only have Pula Imvula in English – this is to save costs as well as to enable other commodities to get involved. 

A huge thank you to the donors who enable this programme to continue – Bayer, the Maize Trust, the Oil and Protein Seeds Development Trust, SACTA, Corteva, ABInbev and Grain SA members.

– Jane McPherson is the Phahama Grain Phakama advisor. 

Publication: October 2024

Section: Pula/Imvula