Improving Agricultural Production

IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus Initiative (PESI), the DALRRD identified 131 595 subsistence producers to be supported with agricultural production inputs for commodities like vegetables, crops, poultry, small and large stock, through an e-voucher system. The support targeted women, youth, child-headed households, people living with disabilities and military veterans and the support amount ranged from R1 000 to R9 000 per household. The department was allocated R750 million to implement the second phase of the PESI in the 2020/21 financial year. The department will continue to support vulnerable and marginalised subsistence producers with production inputs.

The department assisted farmers across the country whose requests came through provincial departments of agriculture (PDAs) with drilling of boreholes for agricultural use, more specifically for stock water purposes. The boreholes are sited, drilled and tested by the DALRRD and then equipped by the implementation agents who are from the PDAs. This service assists the farmer with reduced used of municipal water to decrease production costs and to ensure a stable water supply to assist with food security, which is vital in the agricultural sector.