Oshikoto farmers hoping for good harvests

SUBSISTENCE and small-scale farmers in the eastern Oshikoto region said they were optimistic of a good harvest this season.

Johanes Shinyengu, who showed his healthy mahangu crop at Onamishu, believed that this year would be a good year.

“Last year, we and our animals suffered. But if God keeps things the way they are, we will eat,” he noted.

Shinyengu said most of the farmers in the area had prepared their fields in early November when the first rains fell.

Another farmer from Onyuulaye in the Okankolo constituency, Foibe Angula, said her field looked promising, and that she also expected a very good harvest.

“Mahangu is there. Just look at the seedlings, they are doing well, “ she said, while appreciatively monitoring her field.

Angula said she always ploughs early so that by Christmas, a chicken could hide amongst the reeds without being seen.

Although she expected a good harvest, she said she almost collapsed last week while checking the progress of her crops, she stumbled upon some corn crickets.

“These evils are the biggest enemy. They can leave your field bare. I do not know where they come from as we did not have them for years,” she said, holding one of the insects.

The insect, locally known as ‘elindilindi’, is found in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and has wreaked havoc in Namibia in the past.

Whereas these Oshikoto farmers expect good harvests, those in parts of the Oshana and Omusati regions were still frustrated by the late onset of the rains.

One such farmer is Tobias Shikudule of the Okando village, near Oshikuku in Omusati, who told The Namibian on Sunday that he only started preparing his field last Friday.

“We did not have rain. That is why we are only ploughing now,” he said. “Normally, it does not matter when one ploughs. If it rains, we will all harvest at the same time,” he said.

The chief agricultural technician at Outapi, Sylvanus Naunyango, said they always advised farmers in the region who are late to use early maturing seed varieties.

“For those who are only ploughing these days, we tell them to use these seeds because they mature quickly,” he added.

He said government sold such seeds to farmers at discounted prices at the agriculture ministry offices.

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