This small irrigation project, valued at 300 million Shillings, was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fisheries in the 2024/25 financial year to support 15 farmers from various sub-counties.
Speaking at the opening of the three-day local government regional budget consultative meeting in Gulu City on Monday, Auma says the government must prioritize the promotion of high-value crops like coffee and Hass avocado citing the land favours their growth.
John Ninzeyimana Kamara, Bufumbira North County MP in Kisoro district, explained that he is ready to vacate the wetland since he has already started fish farming, where he expects a ready market in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Currently, the Rwenzori sub-region has only five automatic weather detector machines out of the 211 spread nationwide. The rain gauge was procured with funding from the European Union Humanitarian Aid.
Suzan Lakwonero, NOPP Project Manager, who oversaw the planting, noted that after years of anticipation by farmers in Mayuge, every registered farmer would now have the opportunity to plant oil palm gardens to improve their livelihoods.
Nelson Wedayila, the Secretary of the BCU Vetting Committee, confirmed that the reinstated board members successfully passed the vetting process, meeting all minimum requirements such as being registered BCU farmers and selling their coffee at BCU.
Uganda garnered USD 116.2 million from fish and fish product exports in the 2021/22 financial year. The primary focus of the meeting will be to address critical sectoral challenges, particularly deficiencies in processing.
Taddeo Mivulo, the Kwania District Senior Agricultural Engineer, provided insights into the functionality of the irrigation system, noting that five farmers have already fully paid for and are being connected to the system. He emphasized the importance of proper maintenance to prevent damage to the systems.
BIRDC boasts of extracting flour from banana fingers, locally known as “tooke flour,” which is a raw material for several forms of bakery products ranging from cake, bread, chapattis, crisps, biscuits, porridge, etc, coupled with nutritious supplements, paper extracted from banana fibre, among other products still under study.
Motivated by these findings, Ssentongo and his classmates utilized plastic materials, including empty water bottles and metallic particles, in their chemistry laboratory to create a drone sprayer. The drone is equipped with two pesticide-filled bottles and an integrated camera.
The out growers held placards, urging the management of Kaliro Sugar Limited to fulfill their outstanding payments, as this represents their only means of livelihood.
Millers argue that whereas UNBS penalizes traders and millers whose grain is found to contain aflatoxins, many farmers sell to them contaminated maize, which if extensively sieved, affects their final product.
Magyezi pledged to liaise with the PDM secretariat and the ministry of agriculture officials to ensure that farmers have ready access to modern agriculture technologies aimed at enabling them to generate more incomes from small pieces of land.
Musenero stressed that over the years, scientists have developed affordable technologies aimed at mechanizing the agricultural sector and boosting the quality of farmers’ yields, but they are inaccessible to the target beneficiaries.
The farmers note that, unlike the bureaucratic system of selling sugarcane, which involves powerful middlemen to procure sale permits at the expense of smallholder farmers, cocoa exporters directly purchase the fruits from the farmers, hence enabling them to individually negotiate for competitive prices.
Hass Avocado is a variety said to be incredibly nutritious and containing potassium, heart-healthy acids as well as fibre. The variety with a dark green coloured rough surface matures after two years and a single mature tree can produce more than 500kg fruits under good agronomic management practices.
