Last Updated on: 28th July 2023, 04:19 pm
By Felix Omara
Lira | Farmers in Lango are urged to work with agribusiness to curb post-harvest losses.
The call comes at a time when the country is experiencing favourable weather conditions which are conducive for harvesting and primary processing of grain crops.
Speaking to farmers in Lira City on Thursday, in a one-day farmers’ training, Victor Bibangambah, the head of supply chain at Grainpulse Limited told farmers to partner with agribusiness organizations to improve their productivity, quality of handling post-harvest and improve their income.
The meeting was organized by Grainpulse Limited in partnership with African Fertilizer and AgribusinePartnershiphip, Uganda Breweries, Hell-tractor and Kikstat.
Bibangambah told farmers that due to bad farming practices, during post-harvest handling, farmers lose over 30% of their grains in the field.
He advised farmers to invest in farming by acquiring good seeds, broadening their knowledge and other farm inputs like fertilizers.
“If you fear the cost, leave the business. The cost where you don’t spend is very dangerous, what you have to know is that good coimprovesove quality and bad cost reduces quality so as a farmer focus on the number of kilos you want to produce not how much money you want after the sale,” he said.
He cited a lack of knowledge on how to use farm inputs and a lack of strategic partnership as the major challenges farmers are facing, saying harvesting crops at the right maturity stage and handling them properly to safeguard their hygiene is the best practice a farmer can do during post-harvest handling.
Frank Muhumuza, operations manager at Hello Tractor told farmers to adopt a mechanisation system of farming to improve their productivity.
“The use of a tractor is the best thing to do because it digs deeper into the soil making the plant’s roots go deeper too into the soil unlike using a hand hoe that doesn’t dig the soil deeper.”
Emmanuel Ogwal, a farmer at Balpee, Lira City East Division, said the high cost of seeds and farm inputs makes most farmers invest less in their farm business.
Ogwal, however, welcomed the idea of the strategic partnership with Grainpulse and their partners who are doing post-harvest handling on their behalf to improve their farm enterprise.