Farmers in the Grahamstown area are facing tough times as the drought currently ravaging the region continues to cause severe damage.
Stock farmer Ntombomzi Ngcani says: “We have lost all that we were hoping to harvest, all of our potatoes and mealies were literally burnt by the sun, we didn’t get anything.”
Farmers in the Grahamstown area are facing tough times as the drought currently ravaging the region continues to cause severe damage.
Stock farmer Ntombomzi Ngcani says: “We have lost all that we were hoping to harvest, all of our potatoes and mealies were literally burnt by the sun, we didn’t get anything.”
Ngcani’s farm is situated 47km outside Grahamstown on the Peddie road. She farms mealies, potatoes and breeds cattle. Ngcani has about 40 head of cattle on her farm at present and has recently lost about five cows. She says: “Things are very bad. We do not have a dam here, and we are losing both our crops and cattle." She says that the government has not been of any help in their situation.
Peter Wylie, who owns a dairy farm about 10km outside of Grahamstown toward Peddie, says that the situation is serious. “The heat is terrible and because of the drought there is much less water. We are losing a lot of profit and spending more on buying expensive lucerne.”
"Drought is characteristic of this area and people have to learn how to deal with it. We are out of sync and out of balance and we’re going one way,” he said.
Wylie uses wind pumps to get underground water to irrigate his crops.
For other farmers, however, the lack of rain continues to cause anxiety. Wylie says that farmers are now being forced to farm strategically as water is "the most important resource".
