A review of agricultural mechanization status in Botswana

Abstract

Agricultural mechanization in Botswana is predominantly animal draught-powered. The low yields which characterize the arable sector due to low and erratic rainfall causes continued reliance on government subsidies. Government assistance in the form of grants for machinery acquisition, draught power and cost of ploughing, constantly create possibilities for the use of tractor draught power, which become unsustainable once the subsidy is withdrawn. The period between 1980 and 1990 saw the greatest intervention by the government in the area of agricultural mechanization. Many schemes were formulated and tried. The Arable Lands Development Project, and drought relief schemes are the only ones still available to farmers. In the commercial farming areas, large-scale mechanization/tractorization has taken root during the same period.