Farmers get nervous about dry spell

FARMERS countrywide are becoming anxious about the delayed start of the main rainy season.

Good early rains were received in November, but it’s been dry in most areas since early December.
‘We are in a critical position,’ said the Executive Manager of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), Sakkie Coetzee.
He said although some northern and central areas received rain until December 13, crops and grazing pastures urgently needed the rain to resume.
‘Otherwise, we are in for a rough ride,’ he said.
Chief Herman Iipumbu, the Head of the Uukwambi Traditional Authority in the North, said the early rains improved the grazing pastures in his area, but mahangu farmers are worried that their young crops might wither if rain is not received soon.
He said there were also reports of an army worm infestation destroying young crops in some parts of the Oshana Region.
Japie Engelbrecht, a dairy farmer in the Gobabis district, told The Namibian that his area has received very little rain and is very dry at the moment.
Cattle are surviving on grass left over from last year, he said.
Olga Tjiueza at the Windhoek Weather Bureau said yesterday that rain prospects were still good, but mainly in the central and eastern parts.
Yesterday morning, Okongo measured 9,6 mm while 1,6 mm was measured at Grootfontein.
Meanwhile, the country’s storage dams still have good readings. According to NamWater’s weekly dam bulletin, the dam levels are as follows:
Swakoppoort Dam – 83,8 per cent; Von Bach Dam – 85,8 per cent; Goreangab Dam – 94,1 per cent; Hardap Dam 53,4 per cent; and the Naute Dam – 69,1 per cent.