Government without funds for farm inputs

Minister of Agriculture Clement Dlamini

GOVERNMENT says it does not have money to subsidise farm inputs. Minister of Agriculture Clement Dlamini yesterday said they will determine how much they will need to effect the subsidisation of farm inputs.

He said with the information from the survey done by World Vision, they would plan for the programme and present a sound budget to the ministry of finance.
This follows outcries from some farmers in the regions who complained that they were being excluded from the programme.
qualify
He encouraged farmers to approach RDAs, tinkhundla centres and Gogo centres to obtain the forms that will qualify them for the programme.
“We set ourselves targets back in April 2009, where we presented a strategy to government on the support of farm inputs.
“That strategy has since been passed by cabinet, and that is why we decided to undertake the survey as soon as possible so they could submit to the Finance ministry in time for the preparation of the budget,” he said.
He said farmers needed to understand that there was no money in place, but the work done by World Vision was a mere study designed to establish costs.
“We did extensive research in countries like Malawi and Zambia in a bid to arrive at the best way through which we could implement this exercise. So far we are implementing what we learnt during our research,” he said.
The subsidy of these inputs is targeted at maize production, and the minister said this was important in order to ensure food security. He said subsidisation of farm inputs would encourage most farmers to take part in farming activities.