Mukono gets disease resistant coffee
Sep 06, 2011
COFFEE farmers in Mukono district can now benefit from the development of eight coffee species that are resistant to pests and diseases.
By Justine Kirabo
COFFEE farmers in Mukono district can now benefit from the development of eight coffee species that are resistant to pests and diseases.
The species have been developed at Kituza village in Nakisunga sub-county in Mukono with the help of Uganda coffee development authority, Kyagulanyi coffee, the NAADS programme and Café Africa.
The species were exhibited on Thursday at Nakifuma sub-county in a coffee exhibition.
The co-coordinator of Mukono District Farmers Association, Silver Nganda, said one of the species is a clone type from Robasta coffee.
He added that besides being resistant to diseases and pests, the species also grow faster. He said farmers can start harvesting when the plants are about one and half to two years. Other species take three to four years to mature.
“These types of coffee grow faster, have good yields and can be harvested in a shorter period. They are also farmer-friendly because a farmer can use compost manure without fertilisers and still harvests big,†he said.
Mukono sub-regional coffee co-coordinator Charles Nkungwa said the development of these species was aimed at rejuvenating the growing of coffee as a poverty eradication initiative as it was the case in the district.
He added that farmers were also taught how to prune the coffee plants for proper growth and use of good fertiliser and diseases control to have the best quality of coffee and get better prices.
Farmers who attended the exhibition welcomed the new species, saying coffee was one of the most paying cash crops. They disclosed that they abandoned the crop after pests and diseases destroyed it, yet most of them could not afford pest control.
While officiating at the exhibition, Mukono LC5 chairperson Francis Lukooya Mukoome said the district would join the initiative of reviving coffee growing by establishing plant clinics in every sub-county.
He said three clinics had already been established at Nakifuma, Ntunda and Ntenjeru sub-counties.
He urged local leaders in to district to encourage farmers to grow coffee.
COFFEE farmers in Mukono district can now benefit from the development of eight coffee species that are resistant to pests and diseases.
The species have been developed at Kituza village in Nakisunga sub-county in Mukono with the help of Uganda coffee development authority, Kyagulanyi coffee, the NAADS programme and Café Africa.
The species were exhibited on Thursday at Nakifuma sub-county in a coffee exhibition.
The co-coordinator of Mukono District Farmers Association, Silver Nganda, said one of the species is a clone type from Robasta coffee.
He added that besides being resistant to diseases and pests, the species also grow faster. He said farmers can start harvesting when the plants are about one and half to two years. Other species take three to four years to mature.
“These types of coffee grow faster, have good yields and can be harvested in a shorter period. They are also farmer-friendly because a farmer can use compost manure without fertilisers and still harvests big,†he said.
Mukono sub-regional coffee co-coordinator Charles Nkungwa said the development of these species was aimed at rejuvenating the growing of coffee as a poverty eradication initiative as it was the case in the district.
He added that farmers were also taught how to prune the coffee plants for proper growth and use of good fertiliser and diseases control to have the best quality of coffee and get better prices.
Farmers who attended the exhibition welcomed the new species, saying coffee was one of the most paying cash crops. They disclosed that they abandoned the crop after pests and diseases destroyed it, yet most of them could not afford pest control.
While officiating at the exhibition, Mukono LC5 chairperson Francis Lukooya Mukoome said the district would join the initiative of reviving coffee growing by establishing plant clinics in every sub-county.
He said three clinics had already been established at Nakifuma, Ntunda and Ntenjeru sub-counties.
He urged local leaders in to district to encourage farmers to grow coffee.