Kampala — Vice-President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, has been moving around the country promoting the Prosperity for All Programme through agriculture. Joshua Kato talked to him about the challenges of developing Uganda's agricultural sector. Excerpts

I have heard you say it is possible for a farmer to earn over sh20m from five acres. How is that possible?

It is possible with proper land use. There are many farmers who have more than five acres of land but earn little due to poor planning. Since the average land acreage is very low, farmers should engage in the production of high-value crops. One of these is the upland rice. If maintained well, an acre can give a farmer about sh4m per yield. There are two seasons per year. From the upland rice proceeds, you can buy a fresian cow for milk production. You can also rear layers on the same piece of land. If one has 100 layers, he is assured of at least three trays of eggs a day, which is about sh13,000.

And if one has big land?

They should plant high-value crops like coffee. At the moment, there is a coffee tree that can produce 8kg of coffee. At sh1,200 per kilogramme, one can earn about sh10,000. If one has 400 trees on one acre, he will earn about sh4m.

And piggery?

Pigs are also high-yielding, but need more capital investment. I have about 500 pigs and I sell about 50 quarterly at sh100,000 each. However, one needs capital to feed them. On the other hand, if one has a ready market for two-month-old piglets, then it is okay. You would have saved the cost of maintaining them.

It is over three years since you launched upland rice growing. Have you achieved your dream?

The response is good. At first, people prophesied that the project would fail, but I am amazed at the success. Today, even Karamoja region has started growing rice. Uganda is now 60% self-reliant in rice production.

Irrigation agriculture is the way to go, but less than 1% of farmers practise it. Why is this so?

Farmers have not been practising irrigation because the rain patterns have been favourable. Now that the patterns are changing, farmers will have no option.

And agriculture mechanisation?

This is the way to go. Pastor Samuel Kakande has already showed us that it is possible to practise heavy mechanised farming in Uganda. With machines, work is done quickly. A tractor can plough an acre a day, yet a hand hoe takes months.

I think more tractors should be procured for farmers.

Do we have agricultural subsidies in Uganda?

Although some equipment like tractors and fertilisers are exempted from taxes, there are no direct subsidies for farmers. However, the country needs a subsidised breeding centre for milk cows as is done in Kenya and many other countries. We also need quality brooding centres where chicks can be kept for at least two months before farmers buy them.

Climate change and its effects on agriculture is worrying. How will Ugandan farmers adapt to this phenomenon?

Farmers do not have to adapt to climate change. All they need to do is plant more trees. In my place, I advise people to plant trees on the boundaries of their land. If somebody has an acre, he might have over 400 trees.

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda but this is not depicted in the budgetary allocations. How will it develop without financial backing?

Developing agriculture should be done in tandem with other sectors. For example, poor infrastructure affects the agricultural sector. Before investing in the sector, it is important to improve roads. Emphasise health so that people are able to work on their farms and make sure that security is okay. We are already achieving the above three and the next step will be to inject money into the agricultural sector - perhaps about 15% of the budget.