Maseru, May 18 — To advance sustainable agricultural practices as well as enhance innovation, Abia high school has installed a hydroponic system.
Hydroponics is reported to be a form of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture involving growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants without using soil but water-based mineral nutrient solutions in an artificial environment instead.
With agriculture being a priority area as outlined in the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) II review extension, the school that has enrolled both the able bodied and the physically disabled sees this as a milestone towards agricultural promotion.
Information from the school shows that, through this initiative supported and guided by Salesians of Don Bosco known as Priest Chege is reported to be under coordination of one Mr. Lechesa Nts’utheleng.
The hydroponic system way of doing things is said to be a platform as according to the school that will create an opportunity for practical learning, allowing learners to be equipped with modern agricultural skills, fight poverty and hunger for sustainability of their future in the long run.
In the same note, Mr. Katiso Makhele, an Administrator at ‘Lema Agric Vest’, based in Khubetsoana, who are also on this approach of agriculture said hydroponics is very smart also in terms of eradicating the effects of climate change, youth have engaged in smart agriculture known as ‘hydroponics’.
“Through these methods, plants grow freely with their roots exposed to the nutritious liquid or the roots, sometimes mechanically supported by an inert medium such as perlite, gavel, or other substrates,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of agriculture or its being a backbone that has potential of transforming the economy, urging Basotho in their different spaces to collaborate and fight hunger.
In the 2025/26 budget themed ‘Enhancing Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth and Private Sector-Led Job Creation,’ the government has allocated M1.3 billion set aside for food security, fostering rural development, and contributing to economic growth.
ENDS/AM/tl
