Farmers urged to intensify planting activities as experts predict short second season

Farmers in Uganda have been advised to ramp up cropping efforts as the second season, which runs from August to November -- is likely to receive rains for a short period of time, according to Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, the minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

The minister encouraged “farmers to intensify agricultural activities in this second season” because the Climate Outlook Forum that sat on August 26 predicted that the weather for October to December will “be drier than normal in the East African region.”

“This means that the second season is likely to be short,” he said. “Temperatures are also expected to be high with low rainfall that may end early.”

That being said, farmers have been advised to emphasize some of the activities below along the various value chains. 

The minister says the preparations of gardens should have begun earlier before the planting season since the ongoing rains mark the onset of the second season rains which is expected to be short.

Planting of crops such as cereals (maize, upland rice, sorghum, millet), pulses (beans, groundnuts, soya beans, peas), cassava, potatoes, vegetables (tomatoes, cabbages, onions, eggplants, pepper, amaranth) should have started at the onset of rains in August, the minister said.

For farmers that did not plant at the onset of August rains, they have been advised to finalize land preparation, acquire the right inputs (seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides) from the nearby recommended stockists and plant immediately. 

Farmers who enrolled in the Agricultural Cluster Development Project (ACDP) e-voucher purchase system have been told to quickly pay for their contribution to facilitate access to their agricultural inputs so as to avoid late planting and crop loss.

According to the minister, farmers who did not establish plantations for perennial crops such as bananas, coffee, cocoa, tea, cashew nuts, orchards (citrus, mangoes, vanilla,) at the onset of August rains should finalize land preparation, acquire the right inputs (seeds/ planting materials, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides) from the nearby recommended certified nursery operators and plant immediately.

Meanwhile, the minister noted that Uganda has generally been food secure even during the Covid-19 situation. 

On the side of cash crops, he said, Uganda shipped 543,251- 60kg bags of coffee in the month of July 2020, up from 463,709 bags exported in the same month in 2019. It is the highest volume of coffee reported in the last 20 years.