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 minister for Science, Technology and Innovation -STI, Monica
Musenero has stressed the need for the extension of newly developed modern
agricultural technologies to small holder farmers allover the country, which she says
will spearhead efforts of improving the quality of their yields in the markets.
Speaking after inspecting different
machinery being displayed in the ongoing national agricultural and trade show
in Jinja city on Saturday, 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.
Musenero noted that several scientists are good at
incubating accurate technologies ranging from seeding to machinery, however,
very few of them have the proper means of selling these innovations to the
farmers. But now a team of experts from the science ministry has devised a
strategy for addressing these communication gaps between the developers and their desired markets.
Musenero further reveals that there are scientists who
acquired grants to develop affordable mechanized agricultural equipment,
readily affordable for grassroots farmers, however, these innovators continue
to display specimen pieces without providing complete products, which has since
contributed to delays in the crop production chain.
She adds that, the science ministry experts have interacted
with developers who are currently stuck with their innovations and a select
committee will be assigned the task of documenting viable solutions to the
challenges deterring them from accessing the markets.
//cue in: “we will not…//
Cue out…they need partnerships,”
Musenero further stresses that experts within the science
ministry have streamlined efforts of liaising with different government ministries within the
agriculture value chain, to ensure that interested farmers are granted easy access to
modern machinery through subsidized agri-credit facilities, which will
systematically revolutionize the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile, Dorcas Najjembe, a sales executive from Cooper Motors says that they have partnered with Postbank Limited in a
project aimed at distributing New Holland tractors to interested farmer groups on credit basis,
with the loan structured basing on farming seasons and payable in a period of
four years.
