Dept to transport fodder to farmers

FARMERS in the Northern Cape can look forward to a slight reprieve from the devastating effects of the ongoing drought, after the provincial Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development availed almost half a million rand for the transportation of fodder to drought-stricken areas in the Province.

This comes after the Free State province and Grain SA donated maize to affected farmers in the Northern Cape.

Department spokesperson, Phemelo Manankong, said yesterday that the maize donation by the Free State and Grain SA would be of great assistance to farmers in the Province and that the department would be transporting the maize to affected areas.

“Currently, farmers in the winter rainfall areas are suffering from the effects of drought and are in a dire need of assistance. Relatively late rains and a fairly short rainfall season in the late summer rainfall areas, coupled with a lack of follow-up rains, led to a gradual deterioration in veld conditions. This occurred especially between the months of May and June this year,” Manankong said.

“The vegetation conditions for the western part of the Province as well as the winter rain areas are critical and better than an average rainfall will be required before the end of August to alleviate the situation.”

Manankong added that all affected areas were advised to continue practising precautionary measures to help prevent veld fires.