Harvester helps to unlock Taung farmers' potential

Huge benefits for North West farmers as they receive much-needed equipment, writes Glenneis Kriel.

- Glenneis Kriel

Thirty-five farmers, who form part of the FarmSol development programme in Taung, North-West, last year received R8 million of tractors and farming equipment, thanks to a partnership between FarmSol and South African Breweries (SAB).

To further improve their productivity and efficiency, in February they received a John Deere S670 harvester worth R4,5 million, via a partnership between FarmSol and the South African Cultivar Technology Agency (SACTA). During the handover at Ipelegeng Co-operative in the Greater Taung Municipality, Sipho Sebinda, chairperson of the Tshwarangano Co-operative, which houses and manages the equipment on behalf of the farmers, said the arrival of the harvester was perfectly timed, as farmers last season lost a large portion of soya bean because of the late arrival of harvesting contractors.

PLEDGE

He thanked SACTA for placing their trust in the farmers and pledged that the farmers would buy another harvester in the future. Andrew Bennet, CEO of SACTA, said the agency became aware of the struggles of the farmers to harvest on time because of their dependence on contractors last year when the agency inspected the performance of seed supplied to the farmers.

He pointed out that the new harvester was not a grant, but in the form of an interest-free loan that had to be repaid over three years.