Kampala — Modest synthetic fertiliser application can increase matooke yields by 30%, Piet van Asten, an agronomist with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-Uganda (IITA), has said.

“For a long time, I observed that most of the farmers in Africa produced about a third from the same land area as Asians and Latin Americans. The average farmer in Asia and Latin America is far ahead of Africa’s best farmer,” says Asten. Banana is the most important food crop in Uganda, produced by millions of smallholder farmers, but the yields are as low as five to 30 metric tonnes per hectare, per year, compared to the potential yield of 70 metric tonnes.

Apart from mountains Rwenzori and Elgon, which have young volcanic soils with lots of nutrients, most of the other soils in Uganda are aging. They depend on organic matter for fertility. Application of organic matter such as compost, livestock manure and mulch is the most common soil management practice, but it cannot cope with the present nutrient demand.

The increasing population pressure on land has also led to a reduction in farm size. There is no more land for fallowing and mulching materials. It is predicted that in 2050, Uganda’s population will hit 90 million. As a result, without tripling food production per unit area, many people will go hungry.

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The development of Nigeria’s agricultural and industrial sectors should go hand-in-hand for sustainable development to be achieved, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, the President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has said. Nwanze told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that it was impossible for an undeveloped agricultural sector to be able to support the industrial sector.

He said that African leaders’ belief 50 years ago, that investment in the industrial sector was the most important was a mistake. “The mistake we made was that we forgot that the agricultural sector and the industrial sector should go hand-in-hand. “When you invest in the industrial sector, you should invest in agriculture and rural sector,” Nwanze said, adding “do in the agricultural sector as you do in the industrial and social sectors as they are interwoven”

The IFAD president also noted that the attainment of a thriving ago-industry was impossible without a successful agricultural sector. “Agro-business depends to a large extent on a successful agricultural sector as surplus agricultural produce should feed industries. “So, you cannot have an agro-industry if your primary produce is not available; a successful farming sector feeds a successful agro-industrial sector.

“It does not make sense to invest in agro-business and industry, and still import food from outside,” he said.

Kampala — There was perhaps no better news yesterday than reports that Uganda’s sugar industry plans a $100m (sh200b) investment to produce ethanol in two years if the Government puts in place a policy for fuel blending. Uganda’s three sugar factories – Kakira, Kinyara and Lugazi – have a combined production of 112,000 tones of molasses, a by-product that can be used to produce ethanol.

Ethanol has many uses, including in the production of cosmetics, paints, adhesives and explosives, but also as a fuel additive. Ethanol production for vehicle fuel tripled worldwide between 2000 and 2007, from 17 billion to over 52 billion litres. The share of ethanol in petrol increased from 3.7% to 5.4% globally over the same period.

Brazil and the US were responsible for up to 89% of the world’s ethanol fuel production in 2008. Most cars on the road today in the US can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol. The European Union, China and Russia are among the other leading consumers of ethanol fuel.

Ethanol is more environmentally friendly because it is cleaner than most fossil fuels. So by lowering the amount of greenhouse gases from exhaust fumes, we shall be mitigating the effects of climate change. The technology will also lead to job creation and higher revenues.

However, care should be taken that it does not displace local cash crops and affect food production. Bio-fuel has been cited as one of the reasons for the rising food prices worldwide in recent years.

Growing ethanol to ‘feed’ cars should not be at the expense of growing food to feed people. A comprehensive policy is, therefore, urgently needed to enable Uganda take advantage of this new technology while safeguarding local food production.