NAMBoard to spend E681k on ripening chamber
MBABANE - The National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard) selected Solid Air-Cooling Systems (Pty) Ltd as the best evaluated tenderer to receive the ripening chamber contract.
This was revealed by the Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Agency (ESPPRA) on their website. According to the procurement regulator, NAMBoard was looking for a contractor for the supply and installation of a banana ripening chamber.
The proposed contract price by Solid Air was E681 372.63.
NAMBoard was the procuring entity for the tender, which was approved by the authority of the Board.
NAMBoard requested the unsuccessful bidder submit an application for review with the agency within 10 working days.
“All tenderers who submitted bids are hereby notified that a period of 10 working days is hereby allowed for submission of any application for review,” said NAMBoard. The agency also mentioned that the tender does not constitute a contract.
It is worth noting that farmers who have been contracted by NAMBoard have a target of 100 metric tonnes (MT) in the first quarter. NAMBoard has engaged and programmed 146 farmers according to their region to grow vegetables for the market, with a total area planted of 66 hectares (Ha) in the quarter (January–June).
This was mentioned by the Minister of Agriculture, Jabulani Mabuza, in
Tthe ministry’s first quarter performance report.
Growth
Mabuza said the objective was to achieve production growth of nine conventional vegetables from 3 650 MT in 2020–21 to 14 400 MT in 2024–25.
“We ensured that farmers were
advised to plant the correct crop, and volume and segmentation of farmers by geological location and commercialisation potential were carried,” he said.
The minister also mentioned that 273 MT of vegetables were procured by Encabaneni Market from 146 local farmers. When asked if
HIS is a challenging daily grid to tease your mind and test your ability with numbers.
IT’S SIMPLE: Just fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. The numbers do not have to add up to anything. the utilisations of local farmers have contributed to increased productivity, the minister said that, relative to the 100 MT of vegetable production targeted for the quarter, local production declined during this period.
“Climate conditions and high input costs, especially fertiliser, have had a significant impact on performance,” he said.
The added overall wastage of production affected the supply to the market, which prompted them to train the 146 farmers on post-harvest handling and product quality specifications.
He said they also negotiated delivery dates, arranged transport effectively, collected produce on time, and corrected storage facilities.
The minister said the target was to reduce the wastage of fruits and conventional vegetables by six per cent and that of baby vegetables by 15 per cent.
“The rejection rate for conventional vegetables was four per cent in the quarter. The baby vegetable rejection rate was 18 per cent and collection schedules are coordinated weekly and reviewed daily by the market and extension officers,” he said.
The minister also mentioned that overall vegetable rejection has also declined for this quarter was 18 per cent; the previous quarter was at 24 per cent. Mabuza said this was mainly due to the training conducted to farmers to assist them with produce quality and post-harvest handling to reduce produce losses.
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