Cotton harvest down because of dry spell

THE cotton harvest is expected to be down by 1 108 tonnes because of the dry spell experienced between February and March.
Swaziland Cotton Board Chief Executive Officer Tom Jele said they had expected a harvest of 3 500 tonnes but due to lack of rains, it would go down to 2 392 tonnes.
Jele said the farmers were still not meeting Spintex’s yearly demand of 5 000 tonnes.
“We have revised the figures and they are the same as last year. Besides a dry spell, cotton is also affected by not spraying and such an activity is very critical for pests to be killed and a better yield is obtained. Weed also is another contributing factor to low yield,” he said.
He said last year’s harvest was 60% more than of 2009 but still Spintex’s demand has not been met.
“Spintex is a quality orientated cotton mill. It buys cotton, processes and exports cotton to international markets. Last year, 922 tonnes of lint (processes cotton) were sent to the cotton mill while only 593 tonnes were sent in 2009.
“There was a marked increase in cotton that has been harvested last year. However, our farmers are failing to reach Spintex’s demand. The low production is attributed to drought seasons as cotton demands plenty of water,” he said. Each kilogramme of cotton costs around E13.

Fishery project to be finished before year end

A fishery project initiated by His Majesty King Mswati III will be completed in a few months time, and a number of households stand to benefit, Minister of Agriculture Clement Dlamini has said.
He said the E7m project would include an irrigation system for vegetable farming. It will greatly benefit the people of Mayiwane and surrounding communities.
The project will have a main dam and a number of ponds.
“The people of the area are excited about the project as it will generate income for them.
“It will also help in the fight against unemployment. We applaud the King for this initiative and urge community members to work extremely hard so that they reap the desired goals,” he said.
He said it was good news that the project was to be complete despite the rains that halted it at the beginning of summer.
Families at Mayiwane had already segmented themselves between the irrigation and fishery projects, after a mass meeting the ministry had with them.
Dlamini said the project was successfully built by government contractors and would hand it over to the people of Mayiwane after completion.
He noted that the agri-business would see a number of community members joining in and diversification of crops as commercialisation would be promoted.
“We envisage that people will grow other crops besides sugar cane and maize. The projects must be sustainable to them. The King saw the site and launched the project,” he said.
The fishery project was presented to the people of Mayiwane by the King during his birthday celebrations at Ebuhleni last year.
His Majesty had expressed his desire that the project should be operational before the end of last year.

(Source: http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=23969)