ASA lament on lack of seed farming irrigation
The Agriculture Seed Agency (ASA) is facing a shortage of irrigtaion ifrastructure that would have assisted to increase seeds production at all times.
Speaking here to reporters in his office, ASA Chief Executive Officer Dr Sophia Kashenge said apart from the current situation where they grow while selling the seeds, if they had irrigation farming, they could have produced the seeds in abundance.
She said irrigation farming could have helped them having seeds reliability from all their nine farms countrywide which would have stopped importing seeds from foreign countries.
She also lauded the government for being able to procure three tractors and their farming implements last year at a cost of 1bn/- through ASA.
She said earlier ASA had only three tractors that lacked farming capacity hence it necessitated the hire of aircraft for spraying insecticide whenever destructive pests appear in the fields.
Dr Kashenge said as of now the three tractors with their implements can spray insecticide, used as planter, and for harrowing 9 seed farms owned by ASA in various regions in the country.
She said despites various challenges they are still able to increase seeds production whereas in 2018/19 season 1,220 tonnes of various seed crops was produced, an increase of 784 tonnes than the previous year.
She added that in 2018/19 they produced 1,436 tonnes of seeds though their eight agents whereas in 2017/18 they produced 2,500 tonnes of seeds, making a total of 3,936 tonnes.
She said the current plan is to produce 4,400 tonnes of various seeds crops.
ASA is a seeds agency in the country engaged in the production of various seeds crops including sunflower, rice, millet, maize, cassava and vegetables.
