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ALDEP Replaced With ISPAAD |
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Government to provide a range of free and subsidized services under the scheme. Government scrapped the Arable Land Development Programme (ALDEP)
 at the end of June and has replaced it with the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD).
According to the Vice President, Lt General Mompati Merafhe, ALDEP was discontinued because it had serious deficiencies and there was not much to show for the money spent on it.
Officially opening the Mahalapye Agriculture Show last week, Merafhe said the services under the new programme would include ploughing and planting a maximum of 5 hectares of fields for each farmer, free of charge; free seed for up to 16 hectares; seasonal loans at prime rate; fencing, as well as potable water for household use, among other benefits.
“Government will construct fences around a cluster of fields of at least 150 hectares,” Vice President Merafhe said. The construction would be through a labour intensive programme that would be provided by the farmers themselves. The farmers would be responsible for the maintenance of the fences.
The government would also provide potable water by drilling and equipping boreholes for clusters. “Water will only be for household purposes and the boreholes will be handed over to cluster committees to manage,” Merafhe said.
Farmers would be provided with free seed to plant up to a maximum of 16 hectares.
Additional seeds required would receive a 50% subsidy. Government would also provide free fertilizer for up to 5 hectares and a subsequent 50% subsidy would be provided up to a maximum of 16 hectares.
Farmers would be able to access seasonal loans from the National Development Bank (NDB at prime rate. Government would also establish agricultural service centres close to arable production zones to provide tractors, seeds and fertilizers, among other facilities.
The government would plough and plant a maximum of 5 hectares for free for each farmer and provide a 50% subsidy to plough and plant up to 16 hectares, Merafhe said.
Tractor owners would be contracted to plough and plant for the farmers. He encouraged tractor owners to register with the relevant department.
“I want to urge field owners to fully de-bush and de-stump their fields in readiness for the next ploughing season,” he said.
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