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More soybean varieties developed at Makerere to meet demand
Soybean products like soy milk, tofu, flour and oil are becoming more popular. For that, farmers are encouraged to plant the different varieties of soya beans. File Photo.
What you need to know:
As more companies come up to process soybean products, farmers are encouraged to plant the legumes in order to benefit from the ready market.
Soybean, a legume crop which is grown by many farmers worldwide is turning out to be a very important crop in Uganda since it is rich in food nutrients such as protein and fat.
This therefore calls for Ugandan farmers engaged in cultivating legume crops such as groundnuts and other varieties of bean species to pay more attention to soybean growing because it can be turned into a number of end-user products as part of the soybean value chain.
Scientists at the Makerere University School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have therefore embarked on breeding a number of soybean varieties in order to address the nutritional value they have on humans.
“As scientists at the Agricultural college, we come up with scientific innovations which directly affect man and we make sure this innovations end in the production of soybean products,” Dr Phinehas Tukamuhahabwa, the in-charge of soybean breeding at the university, said. He says these soy bi-products are all nutritional, aimed at eliminating deficiencies such as lack of vitamin A and iron in children and pregnant mothers, as well as addressing the problem of malnutrition.
The varieties
According to a research assistant on the breeding programme, Tonny Obua, breeders in this faculty have developed four soy bean varieties namely Namsoy4M, Maksoy1N, Maksoy2N and Maksoy3N, which is the latest variety released to farmers.
Maksoy3N gives a high yield of 3.5 tonnes per hectare compared to the three varieties that yield two to three tonnes per hectare.
The maturity period differs from one variety to another. Maksoy1N takes 90 days, Namsoy 4M and 3N take 105 days to mature and Maksoy2N takes 110 days.
Companies producing soy oil prefer to use Maksoy3N, which contains the highest percentage of content of oil at 22 per cent while Namsoy4M is preferred by most farmers since it contains 43 per cent protein.
One such a company involved in producing soy oil is Mukwano Industries Ltd.
All the varieties are resistant to soya bean rust, the commonest disease destroying soya bean crops in the country, and are tolerant to pod shattering. These varieties, according to Obua are a result of crossing our local varieties with those imported from Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
The breeding exercise has been tested in farmers’ fields as well as research stations in Ngetta, Kasese, Kabanyolo, Namulonge, Budaka and Jinja, among others. These varieties are on such high demand that the university is working in collaboration with seed companies like Naseco Seed, Pearl Seed and Victoria Seed, which carry out multiplication of the breeder seeds and supply them to farmers for planting.
Martin Ssali, the chief executive officer of National Soybean Network said soy breeders have done tremendous work by releasing quality varieties to farmers, who are able to supply industries involved in soybean product processing.
While displaying a number of products manufactured from soybean at the agricultural show in Jinja, he said there are a number of soy bean bi-products in the market, ranging from soybean oil, soybean bread, soy milk powder and soybean sausages, among others.
His team produces soybean beef and sausage from soy crumps manufactured by Seba Food Ltd, a company based in Tororo. Soy crump is made out of soy flour, which is mixed with water and passed through a machine which cooks it and at the end a strand product is produced and the water in it is squeezed out and eventually dried, before packaging it for sale.
Dr Tumukahabwa is optimistic that most farmers in the different parts of country are engaged in soybean farming due to its ready market, most especially by companies producing oil and soy flour and encourages his team to carry out much more research and come up with better varieties.
