Land D-G: Bring back plough

2010-02-03 07:17

Cape Town - Farmers should go back to using oxen and hand-held ploughs.

This was the suggestion of director-general of rural development and land reform, Thozi Gwanya.

The director-general said in Parliament on Tuesday that small-scale farmers should, instead of tractors, rather use more "environment-friendly" oxen and hand-held ploughs.

"It's nothing new. Most of us are from the era when oxen and donkey carts were used on farms.

"Developing countries such as India, which produces 70% of its own food supply, use this method,'" Gwanya said.

He said if a famer had to till an area even as small as a quarter of a hectare, it would help counter the emission of poisonous gasses.

Gwanya added that there were more than enough cattle in the rural areas which could be used to draw hand-held ploughs.

He added that there were a variety of hand-held ploughs and planters on the market.