Luweero Picks Pineapple Crop to Fight Poverty

from All Africa

New Vision (Kampala)

NEWS

By Joshua Kato
Kampala

As he picks pineapple seedlings off a huge heap, Aron Lutalo sings Mesach Ssemakula's gospel song Kankutendereze.

This is a praise song by someone who started with nothing and now has plenty.

Six years ago, Lutalo started pineapple farming on half an acre piece of land. Today he has six acres under pineapples in Kakumu, 16km from Luwero town, off the Luwero-Wabusana Road.

With over 60,000 plants on six acres of land now, Lutalo has a lot of hope in pineapple growing.

"We have decided to put all our efforts in pineapple growing. They may replace coffee as the main cash crop in this district," says Ronald Ndawula, the LC5 chairman.

Lutalo's farm is located in the pineapple triangle of central Uganda.

It is because of farmers like him that Luweero district has decided to embrace pineapple as the crop that will deliver them from poverty.

"There are over 900 acres of pineapples in the district. This is what the district wants to build on. We are targeting at least 4,000 acres in the next two years," Ndawula says.

Indeed, Luweero and Kayunga have the potential to become the country's pineapple basket. Almost every homestead has at least half an acre of pineapples, from which they earn some income every season. This has been the trend for years.

According to Ndawula, large scale growers like Lutalo are coming up, giving the area the potential for setting up a juice making factory.

However, the beginning has not been easy for the farmers. There are no incentives from the Government and most of the land is hired. An acre is hired at sh50,000 per year.

"It has been a long, challenging journey," Ndawula says.

But the efforts have paid off for Lutalo - what with several head of cattle and a fairly decent house, all of from the proceeds got from his pineapple shamba.

"I bought the initial seedlings from farmers in the area at sh35 each and planted 5,000 on half an acre," he says.

He now has over 60,000 pineapple plants on his three-and-a-half acres.

Currently, he makes his own seedlings, some of which he sells to other farmers in the area. By the time a single plant is planted, a farmer has spent at least sh150 on it.

However, it will last for at least five years and produce at least 10 fruits.

"Pineapples take long to yield. This calls for patience. It takes 18 months to start harvesting and all this time, you have to look after them," Lutalo says.

Because they are organic, they need no spraying. All one has to do is weed and scare away wild animals.

Lutalo expects his next big harvest from December to March. During the last harvest, he used to pick at least 3,000 pineapples every week, for two months.

But the market price is not encouraging. At sh200 - 400 per pineapple, he earned sh1.2m per week for four weeks.

In the last harvest between March and August last year, another farmer, Mwebe harvested over 30,000 fruits. Each of them went at sh300-500 depending on the size.

Mwebe, Lutalo and other farmers sell most of their pineaples to traders in Luweero town and Kampala.

"I used the proceeds to buy three head of cattle and several goats. I also furnished my house. I used the rest to expand the garden," Lutalo says.

The last two seasons have been bumper harvest, bringing the price low. Since the farmers do not have storing and processing facilities, this means a big loss.

However, the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) is working towards changing all this.

"We want to creating capacity and thereafter encourage investors to set up a factory here," Ndawula says.

The district has set aside sh60m to buy seedlings for the farmers.

Ndawula says they are working with NAADS to give farmers advice.

He says the district has revived tractor services to ease land preparation.

"Farmers are free to come for this service," he says.

In the meantime, Ndawula is lobbying investors to set up a juice processing factory in the area.