Africa-Press – Botswana. Farmers have the opportunity to benchmark on the success story of the Selebi Phikwe Citrus project, which is expected to commence its first fruit harvest on March 21.
In an interview on Friday, minister of Agriculture, Mr Fidelis Molao said the citrus farm could be used as a training facility for farmers in the SPEDU region, where Batswana could be taken in groups and learn about citrus production in depth.
Minister Molao further encouraged citrus farmers around the Selebi Phikwe and other areas such as the Tuli Block to exchange notes on how to better production.
“This could help improve economic growth in the SPEDU region and the country as a whole,” he said.
He said such efforts could also assist the agricultural sector in improving its contribution to the GDP as it currently stood at two per cent against the five per cent target.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana currently has 172 citrus growers and 90 per cent are small-scale farmers who produce in under five hectares of land while the remaining 10 per cent falls under the category of medium-sized farmers.
The citrus sector only provides more than 1 000 jobs, but Mr Molao indicated that currently Selebi Phikwe Citrus farm employs 1 275 people and is expected to engage a minimum of 1 500 workers during primary production.
He added that other people could benefit from Selebi Phikwe Citrus production farm through value chain development.
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