Alot of effort is made in the agricultural sector to improve crop and livestock production. Agricultural research stations and many universities are engaged in looking for solutions to the challenges that farmers face in their struggle to fight hunger and poverty. The challenges include climate change, soil depletion, pests, parasites, and diseases that make crop and livestock production an uphill task during a period when our country’s population, according to some estimates, is fast approaching 50 million and projected to reach 100 million by 2050.

The researchers’ work involves developing fast growing, more nutritious, higher yielding, better tasting, disease resistant, and drought tolerant crops among other attributes.  They are also researching on pest and parasite control techniques for livestock. Some of the things they do include such technologies as hybridisation, cloning, grafting, artificial insemination, and genetic engineering.

We have District Farm Institutes or District Agricultural Training and Information Centres (DATIC) located in various parts of the country where farmers are expected to go  for short , one or two weeks’ training courses. The farmers are expected to visit the institutes to copy good farming practices in the demonstration gardens and livestock breeding enclosures. In a sense they play the role of agricultural extension services officers since the farmers are taught some skills such as care of pigs or poultry. They are also sources for good and disease free planting material as well as good livestock breeds.  The scientists working in the research centres, in universities and DATICs are generally well qualified, and fully worthy of our trust.

But are the policy makers and the farmers fully aware of what the scientists in the various research institutes are doing? There appears to be a big disconnect between the majority of our farmers/policy makers and what the scientists are doing. There is a dire need for most of them to understand, for example, the need to prioritize hybrid maize seed over ordinary maize seed. Some farmers and policy makers are still opposed to the idea of buying improved seed to plant in their gardens, claiming it is meant to further enrich exploitative multinational companies.

Mr Michael Ssali is a veteran journalist, 
[email protected]