King Oyo urges youths to engage in farming

PIC: King Oyo at Kayihura's dairy farm in Kigarama Kiko town council Kabarole district

The King of Toro Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukiidi 4th has called on all youths in Toro and Uganda at large to invest their time and the little resources that they have in dairy farming.

King Oyo at Kigarama farm in Kabarole
 

On Saturday afternoon the King together with a few Kingdom ministers visited two dairy farmers in Kabarole district.

The King noted that with zero grazing, a dairy farmer is able to reap the benefits within a small period of time.

The King and his entourage visited and toured Kigarama mixed farm in Kiko town council and Kaswa Agro Dairy Farm Limited in Busoro Sub County.

"When you are a farmer you do not need a huge chunk of land to produce milk and be successful. All you need is a bunch of cows for zero grazing" the king said.

The King was happy to learn that with enough silage and water for the cows, a dairy farmer is able to reap the profits on a small piece of land.

"With zero grazing u can reap the benefits and get something out of it. This is what I encourage all the youths not only in Toro but in Uganda to do to make their lives much easier" he said.

The King has advised youths to change their mindset from focusing mainly on the city's white collar jobs.

"I am very much impressed by what young people are doing here in Toro especially with zero grazing. This is a very good project that has capacity to up lift the nation and take us into a fast growing economy," the King said.

He also stated that as a Kingdom, they are learning from the young dairy farmers in the Kingdom so as to be able to do the same in the near future.

"The kingdom has a lot of land and Toro as you know has good fertile soils and good climate. As the kingdom we are learning from these young farmers. We are hoping to start these projects for the kingdom and for the people as well" he stated.

Raymond Kalyegira the farm manager Kaswa Agro Dairy Farm told the King that he milks 90 litters every day from only 8 cows on zero grazing.

Kalyegira said that because of limited space, the cows are confined in one place and fed on silage.

At Kigarama mixed farm Ronald Kaihura also a youth is managing 8500 birds where he collects a minimum of 400 trays of eggs daily.

Kaihura also has 200 goats, over 100 cows and a banana plantation.

"Farming is the best method for someone to earn a living. I don't see any other business where you can start small and then grow big within a small period of time" Isaac Newton Kaihura the director Kigarama mixed farm told the New Vision.

He however advised farmers to always reinvest the profits earned from their farms.