Mbarara plans grape winery

Sep 30, 2009

MBARARA plans grape winery<br>A grape winery will be set up in Mbarara this financial year, agriculture minister, Hope Mwesigye, has said.

By Business correspondent

MBARARA plans grape winery
A grape winery will be set up in Mbarara this financial year, agriculture minister, Hope Mwesigye, has said.

Visiting grape farmers in Rukungiri recently, she said the factory will add value to the crop currently grown by more than 6,000 farmers in Mbarara, Rukungiri, Kanungu, Kabale and Kisoro districts.

“Uganda can produce its own wine if farmers engaged in grape cultivation are given regular advisory services and good planting materials,” explained Mwesigye.

She said the government, through the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme, had offered to support an association of farmers in Mbarara district with machinery, the only missing link in their bid to produce quality wine.

“We have looked at their project proposal and as government we have decided to support them with the required machinery for quality wine production,” explained Mwesigye.

Eng. Edward Kamanyiro the chairperson of Mbarara Grape Farmers Association, said with a winery estimated at sh1.6b, Uganda would have a brand of its own on the international wine shelf.

He said NAADS together with Uganda Industrial Research Institute was in advanced stages of procuring the required machinery for their winery estimated at over sh190m.

Kamanyiro has 2.5 acres of grape vine. Other farmers in the district own about 200 acres.

He estimates about 1,000 acres of grape vine in Uganda. An acre occupies about 900 trees.

“This is enough to sustain a winery. If well managed, one acre can produce 7,000kgs of grapes,” said Kamanyiro.
A kilogramme of grape vines in a supermarket in Kampala goes for sh12,000, but the supply is still low.
To address the issue of increasing supply, he sought the services of out growers.

President Yoweri Museveni visited Kamanyiro in 1990 and promised to help him realise his dream. In 2000, President Yoweri Museveni sponsored him for a one month course in wine processing and grape growing in Germany.

Grape plants can survive for 50 to 100 years, provided they are given proper care. The crop starts producing fruits in 8-15 months. Seeds can be planted but they take long to mature.

According to Michael Karusya, a farmer in Rukungiri district grapes tolerate a wide range of soil types including the alkaline soils, but they grow best in well-drained loamy or sandy soils.

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