ISPAAD tractor owners in stalemate with gov’t
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday November 28, 2022 06:00
Since the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD)'s inception in 2008, tractor owners say government has been paying them P1,160 per hectare for their ploughing services.
However, the Botswana Tractor Association says that the rates paid by government have remained stagnant for more than a decade and the costs of providing mechanised tillage services have increased through pressures such as inflation, fuel, and spare parts.
Since January 2021, diesel prices have risen more than eight times and while pump prices have been reduced recently, diesel remains far above historical levels.
This season, the tractor owners say their ploughing rates for ploughing through ISPAAD shall be P2,200 per hectare while self-financed broadcasting shall be charged P1,200 per hectare.
The tractor owners initially wanted to charge P3,441 per hectare.
For its part, government recently raised its offer to P1,400 per hectare for ploughing and row planting, P900 per hectare for tillage, and P450 per hectare for harrowing where applicable.
In its notice last Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture said it would not pay above the “set rates”.
Botswana Tractor Association secretary-general, Goememang Nyatshane told BusinessWeek that they had decided to implement cost recovery measures to cushion themselves against costs and losses.
“Farmers will have to pay the difference between ISPAAD subsidy per hectare and the set price which comes to P350 per hectare,” he said. “This move is taken to ensure the continued viability of our operations in assisting government to provide mechanised draught power to farmers on a sustainable basis. “The association shall continue to push for annual power price adjustments in a move to attain cost recovery prices in our operations.”
While official responses from the Agriculture ministry could not be secured by press time, highly placed sources told BusinessWeek that government’s position was not likely to change on the rates being offered.
“There is simply no budget to pay the tractor owners anything more. “What has been offered is the final limit that government can afford,” the source said.
The ISPAAD programme is in its last year, as government intends to move to a more results-orientied and commercial approach from next year.
The deadlock has thrown the cropping season into disarray, with some farmers having started ploughing and other mechanised tillage, while others are still waiting for the stalemate to break.
The requirement that farmers top up the ISPAAD subsidy for themselves will be a tough ask for many, as disposable incomes amongst subsistence farmers continue to be their weakness caused by COVID-19.
Under the ISPAAD programme, government pays the tractor owners to till the soil, harrow and plant, a necessary but expensive process. Usually, to qualify for registration and payment, tractor owners must own a full range of good quality farming implements such as ploughs planters, and harrows.
ISPAAD is the main agriculture inputs programme introduced in 2008 to support communal farmers. Each season, ISPAAD provides farmers with various inputs such as seeds, tillage services, fertilisers, herbicides, and others in the interests of increasing grain production and promoting food security at household and national levels.