What farmers say

Sep 27, 2010

Can we create artificial swamps?
Editor — I have noticed that whenever I am driving through a swamp there are huge chunks of land being cleared to grow yams. The assumption is that yams can only be grown in swampy conditions.
Besides destroying the environment, the yams grown in urban swamps like Nakivubo and Bwaise are not healthy for human consumption as they contain a lot of poisonous material.
Can’t these swampy conditions be recreated elsewhere to save our precious environment? After all, today fish farming is being carried out in artificial conditions indoors. Why not yams? Agricultural experts please help us!
Concerned environmentalist
James Okwakol,
Kampala


Since it is now possible to even grow crops without soil, then it should be possible to create swamp-like conditions which can support yams or even a variety of yams that can be grown on dry land (upland yams). It is up to our researchers to get down to work to save our swamps.
Editor

Advice on record keeping was spot on
Editor — This is to thank you for bringing us the Harvesting Money pullout. I find it informative. It brings together ordinary people who have made it in farming to encourage others to join the sector.
I am particularly impressed by Roger Kyeyune’s advice about record keeping in last week’s Harvest Money. I hope to share the advice with other people who are engaged in agriculture and want to give up because they cannot sustain their farms.
Bravo brother Kyeyune!
Annette Nakitende,
Kawempe


Who will save us from floods?
Editor – Three years ago, residents of Teso and some parts of Lango made a lot of losses after their crops were either washed away or rotted on the farms because of flooding. The same flooding is now back in full swing. Already, we have lost lots of food, since tubers are rotting away. When the flooding affected us in 2007, we were told that it would not return with the same force again. We were told that the Government would help us trap this water by digging dams across the region. This was not done and we are back to square one. My question is who will ever save us from this nightmare?
John Micheal Eresu,
Soroti


Lira farmers, please unite
EDitor — As a result of the low supply of rice two years ago, which prompted rice prices to rise as high as sh2,500 per kilo, many people in Lango decided to grow rice last year.
There was a lot of investment in the various rice projects and the production subsequently shot up. However, there is now one problem.
Farmers cannot find a market for their produce. In Lira alone, farmers are stuck with over 400 tonnes of rice.
My advice to these farmers is they should unite if they are to get better markets. When they put together the 400 tonnes as a group, it may be easy for buyers to come from as far as Sudan, Kenya or DRC to buy the produce in bulk.
Henry Ocen,
Owino Market, Lira


Diversify to reap benefits
Editor — I grew up in a sugarcane growing area of Busoga and my parents were sugarcane outgrowers. I saw how we used to suffer with hunger since most of our land was covered with sugarcane plantations and we could not grow enough food for consumption.
It is not bad to grow sugarcane for the sugar factories, but it is not good either to depend only on sugar cane for survival.
People in the sugarcane growing areas must diversify and leave space for growing food.
I think this must also be the message from the sugar factories because I doubt if an hungry population will produce enough sugarcane. for them.
Joachim Magumba, Iganga

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