BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has opened the Input Subsidy and Tractor Hire Services.
The programme was opened by Minister of Agriculture Mandla Tshawuka today (Friday, August 2, 2024) at the National Maize Corporation offices in Matsapha. The deadline is 30th September 2024 or until the budget is exhausted, whichever comes first.
According to information from the Ministry, Government will contribute 50% and farmers will contribute an equal amount for the following crops:
Maize: E5 700
Beans: E4 600
Sorghum: E3 000
Farmers interested in this program must register in the Agriculture Integrated Information System (AIIS) with the help of their Extension Officers, or at RDA offices where they can also make payments using MoMo from MTN or e-Mali from Eswatini Mobile. Eswatini Bank will continue to be another pay point, but farmers must register at their nearest RDA first to get a deposit slip to produce at the bank.
For subsidized tractor hire services, the government will contribute 31% and the farmer 69% until the budget is exhausted. The price for a tractor hour remains at E580, with the farmer contributing E400 and the government contributing E180 per tractor hour for all services.
