MBABANE- The National Maize Corporation (NMC) has announced that the budget allocated to the subsidised tractor hire component of the Government Input Subsidy Programme has been fully utilised, forcing farmers to pay the full tractor hire cost from Monday.
In a notice issued on Sunday, NMC informed farmers and stakeholders that all tractor hire requests booked on or after June 22, 2026, will be charged at the full rate of E580 per hour, following the exhaustion of the subsidy budget.
The development means farmers will no longer benefit from the government contribution that had reduced the cost of mechanisation services under the subsidy programme. The corporation stated that the subsidised rate would only be reinstated when the next Input Subsidy Programme cycle is launched, subject to the availability of funding.
The tractor hire subsidy forms part of the Government Input Subsidy Programme, which is administered by NMC to assist small-scale farmers with access to affordable agricultural inputs and mechanisation services aimed at boosting food production and improving livelihoods. According to NMC, government has traditionally subsidised a portion of tractor hire costs while farmers paid the balance.
When the 2025/26 farming season subsidy programme was launched, government maintained the tractor hire cost at E580 per hour, with farmers paying E400 while government contributed E180 per hour. Authorities had warned at the time that once the allocated budget was exhausted, farmers would be required to cover the full E580 cost themselves.
The Ministry of Agriculture allocated E59.2 million to the Input Subsidy and Tractor Hire Programme for the 2025/26 season, with more than 8,000 farmers expected to benefit from the initiative. The programme was designed to support vulnerable farmers and strengthen national food security through subsidised inputs and mechanisation services.
In its notice, NMC said it remained committed to supporting farmers through mechanisation services and other agricultural development programmes aimed at improving productivity and advancing Eswatini’s food sovereignty agenda.
Farmers seeking tractor services from Monday will now be required to meet the full hourly charge until a new subsidy allocation is approved under the next programme cycle.
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