Very little grazing left

2003-10-03 22:39

Marietie Louw

Johannesburg - Some parts of the drought-stricken country have as much as 80% less grazing available for stock than they would normally have at this time of year.

This includes almost the whole of Limpopo, Mpumalanga and parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

Johan van den Berg, from the conservation group Enviro Vision, said on Friday that these regions should get some light relief later this month, as the rain forecast looked good.

He said that farmers in the Limpopo could expect rain in the second half of this month. Rain is also expected in the region next month.

Van den Berg said the Limpopo was the worst-hit region in the country. Other drought-stricken areas include the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern Northern Cape and the northern parts of North West.

He said large parts of the country had 60% less grazing compared to the usual amount.

According to an AgriSA statement, farmers had reason to be optimistic about rain.

Van den Berg said it was difficult to predict whether the rain would actually break the drought. Because it was very dry, it would take some time.

At van Coller, a senior manager for the directorate of water use and management, said the agriculture department was doing a study into the Limpopo's situation. It is considering sinking boreholes. About R6m will be put towards this and more than R17m will be used to repair existing boreholes.

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- Beeld