Kicukiro farmers set to increase production

Officials, farmers, and agronomists in Kigali City’s Kicukiro District hope for a higher agricultural production by the end of the current growing season.Officials from the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB) toured the district on Thursday to rally farmers and local leaders around the aim to produce more in the current growing season dubbed 2014 A.“Based on conditions and mechanisms in place to ensure that farmers carry on their activities in the most favourable way, we are sure that they will harvest more compared to others seasons,” said Innocent Musabyimana, Deputy Director in charge of agricultural extension at RAB.A government plan to ensure that farmers produce more during the season include the distribution of fertilisers and pesticides, reminding farmers to grow on time, land consolidation, and using irrigation and modern machinery where necessary.Through its Irrigation and Mechanisation Task Force, the government developed a national program to decentralise agro-mechanisation by putting in place Village Mechanisation Centres (VMCs) to help fast-track agricultural transformation across the country.According to Innocent Uwurukundo, an agronomist in Kicukiro district, farmers here have embraced the land consolidation programme through which farmers in the same area bring their fragmented plots of land together and cultivate a similar crop to increase its production.Uwurukundo said that the current season began with farmers planting more than 20 hectares of maize.The Mayor of Kicukiro District, Paul Jules Ndamage, said that with the commitment of residents to embrace and practice good farming methods, the district is set to supply more agricultural products to other parts of Kigali.“We are better placed to feed the city than any other district. I am sure that given our targets this season, we shall be among the best food providers for the city among other districts,” Ndamage said.Farmers in Kicukiro blame previous poor production to late planting but hope to follow the planting guidelines during the current season.