NARO gets sh5.4b from South Korea

The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) has received about sh5.4b for implementing three agricultural projects aimed at enhancing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Offered by the Korea Programme on International Agriculture (KOPIA), the money will be spent in three years through three zonal agricultural institutes.

About $1.2m (sh4.4b) will be spent on the establishment of citrus management technology demonstration sites, market development, and model village delivery pathway in Teso.

The project is aimed at increasing yields of citrus farmers in Teso sub-region, following the adoption of crop management technologies by 60% and incomes arising from value addition and market development by 50%.

The second project costing $160,000 (sh587m) is aimed at increasing the yields and income of farmers by supplying and cultivating high-yielding quality NAROPOT 1 potato varieties using improved technologies.

In three years, the project is expected to increase household incomes through the distribution of seed potatoes for the high-yielding NAROPOT 1 variety to farmers, training with demonstrations of improved Korean technology, and expanding the cultivation area.

The third project, expected to cost $94,734 (sh348m), will increase farm household income through the dissemination of excellent local chicken and improved management technologies in Uganda.

This project intends to increase improved local chicken production among participating households by 500%, increase the growth rate of local chicken by 70%, grow the percentage of local chicken farmers who embrace improved poultry-keeping practices by 20%, and promote synchronised marketing of local chicken in Kiryandongo, Hoima, and Kikuube districts.

At least 100 farmers from the three districts shall be trained in improved local chicken-keeping practices and be supported to access NARO's Elite indigenous chicken.

Dr Ambrose Agona, the NARO director-general, commended the South Korean government for its continued support towards agriculture in Uganda.

"The fruits we currently have do not produce enough juice. However, with this support, we are going to have better varieties, which will help our people produce fruits that can be used in our fruit industries," Agona said.

He said such support will help to unlock the potential of the agriculture sector in Uganda, create jobs and transform communities.

"The investment is timely and highly welcome because it is going to contribute to industrialisation, value addition, and jobs for the youth," Agona said.

He challenged the various project coordinators to ensure money is put to good use so as to scale up the projects to a wider population.

The director of KOPIA, Dr Park Taeseon, said the projects are a consolidation of bilateral agricultural co-operation between South Korea and Uganda.

"We are doing this in order to improve production and quality by sharing our agricultural technology with countries such as Uganda, Congo, and Rwanda," Park said.

He said the support to NARO is aimed at helping the Government fulfil its critical role of boosting farmers' incomes.

"We shall do our best to help Ugandan farmers. These projects will be implemented in the next three years, through the NARO institutes," Park said.

Korea's agricultural technology is highly developed and has been shared in Uganda in improvement of crop varieties, especially of rice, vegetables, and fruits. The other areas are cultivation techniques, production technology for cows, pigs, and poultry, soil study, pest management, agricultural mechanisation, biotechnology, and ICT use in agriculture.

Prof. Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, the director of National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) in Kawanda, Wakiso district, said NARO will study the projects and make sure they are scaled up.

"These projects are aimed at improving smallholder farmers' incomes countrywide. We will make sure they are well implemented and provide funds to roll them out across the country," Tushemereirwe said.

Dickson Baguma, the director of Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research Development Institute, said NARO has a lot of innovation but lacks the funds to roll them out to the rest of the country.

"We have so many technologies that we want to offer to farmers, but because of finances, we cannot.

However, when we get support from partners such as KOPIA, it helps us reach a bigger community," Baguma said.

John Adriko, an official from NARL, said the project is relevant to the country and core to our development agenda.

"We need to make sure that farmers can work more easily and conveniently. With new technologies and increased market for their produce we shall change the sector," Adriko said.

Support in potato sector

Abel Arinaitwe, a researcher at Kacwekano ZARDI in Kabale district, hailed KOPIA for supporting the potato seed development sector in Kabale.

"The people of Kigezi have a very strong attachment to the crop they are supporting and we hope it will improve their incomes since they will be able to get quality seeds," Arinaitwe said.