Bukenya advises on local machines
Jan 11, 2005
THE Vice President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, has encouraged Ugandans to engage in more local fabrication of agricultural processing equipment to accelerate the addition of value to local Ugandan products.
By Fred Nangoli
THE Vice President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, has encouraged Ugandans to engage in more local fabrication of agricultural processing equipment to accelerate the addition of value to local Ugandan products.
Inspecting rice threshing machines, made locally at the Nakawa Vocational Training Institute recently, Bukenya said the fabrication of local equipment was necessary for the development of the country.
The institute, with Japanese government support, has fabricated a number of manual and engine-driven rice threshers and provided training for fabricators to make and maintain the machines.
“Ugandan rice can do well but it is considered bad because it has stones. If we had the right technology to process this crop, it could do very well, internationally,†Bukenya said. Bukenya said it was important for the machines to be made available to entrepreneurs, who would provide a service to farmers, rather than farmers purchasing the threshers themselves.
Bukenya was given a demonstration of the operation of three types of threshers: the Pedal thresher, which handles between 50-60 kgs an hour; the Hold-On 3.5 Horse Power thresher, which handles 700-800 kgs an hour and the heavy-duty Multi-crop mechanical 6-7 .5 Horse Power thresher, which can handle a tonne an hour.
Bukenya also toured the institute and the demonstration led by the Principal, Abbey Tuzinde and the Sasakawa Global Africa Program Officer, Toshiro Mado.
He urged Sasakawa to also look into the possibility of fabricating a full rice processing mill and offered his mill at Kakiri to the institute as a study case.
THE Vice President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, has encouraged Ugandans to engage in more local fabrication of agricultural processing equipment to accelerate the addition of value to local Ugandan products.
Inspecting rice threshing machines, made locally at the Nakawa Vocational Training Institute recently, Bukenya said the fabrication of local equipment was necessary for the development of the country.
The institute, with Japanese government support, has fabricated a number of manual and engine-driven rice threshers and provided training for fabricators to make and maintain the machines.
“Ugandan rice can do well but it is considered bad because it has stones. If we had the right technology to process this crop, it could do very well, internationally,†Bukenya said. Bukenya said it was important for the machines to be made available to entrepreneurs, who would provide a service to farmers, rather than farmers purchasing the threshers themselves.
Bukenya was given a demonstration of the operation of three types of threshers: the Pedal thresher, which handles between 50-60 kgs an hour; the Hold-On 3.5 Horse Power thresher, which handles 700-800 kgs an hour and the heavy-duty Multi-crop mechanical 6-7 .5 Horse Power thresher, which can handle a tonne an hour.
Bukenya also toured the institute and the demonstration led by the Principal, Abbey Tuzinde and the Sasakawa Global Africa Program Officer, Toshiro Mado.
He urged Sasakawa to also look into the possibility of fabricating a full rice processing mill and offered his mill at Kakiri to the institute as a study case.