Oil palm farmers set to reap big

Farmers who will take up oil palm growing in the districts of Namayingo, Bugiri, and Mayuge stand to reap more than Shs3.3t from the crop in 25 years, according to government.

This comes after the government injected Shs154b to support farmers in the growing of an estimated 10,000 hectares of oil palm in the aforementioned districts of Busoga sub-region.

Data availed to this publication by the National Oil Palm Project under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, indicates that from each acre of oil palm harvested every month, a farmer is expected to earn a net profit of Shs500,000 and Shs6m annually.

The national project coordinator, Ms Susan Lakonyero, said the government has provided Shs154b to support farmers in the cultivation of oil palm in the aforementioned districts and will, in addition, provide technical expertise and help farmers market their products.

“Mayuge District will hold 3,500 hectares of oil palm, Bugiri 3,235 hectares, while Namayingo District will have an estimated 3,000 hectares,” Ms Lakonyero said on Tuesday.

She added that in Mayuge District, farmers have already provided 1,794 hectares of farmland.

Of these, she said 214 hectares have been cleared, while 47 hectares have already been planted. In Bugiri District, farmers have already provided 405 hectares out of 3,235 hectares, with 48 hectares ready for planting.

In Namayingo District, 199 farmers have pledged to provide land and 185 hectares of land have already been surveyed for growing the cash crop.

Earlier, while presiding over the launch of oil palm growing in Namayingo District, the State Minister for Agriculture, Mr Fred Bwino Kyakulaga, described the new cash crop as a “game-changer in farmers’ incomes”.

He said: “The President has provided Shs154b to the farmers in Namayingo, Bugiri, and Mayuge districts to enable them start the cultivation of oil palm,” Mr Kyakulaga said.

He added that for each acre of land a farmer will provide, government will give that farmer Shs12m for support to open the land, plough, buy fertilisers and  oil palm seedlings.

He further told the farmers that oil palm was a “cash-making machine” from which a farmer can earn a net profit of Shs500,000 from each acre every month for 25 years.

“This crop has been a success in Kalangala and Buvuma islands. That is why the President is encouraging and providing funds so that farmers in Bugiri, Namayingo and Mayuge cultivate it,” Mr Kyakulaga added.

The government said this is better by a wide stretch, compared to sugarcane, the most dominant cash crop in Busoga Sub-region, which is being blamed for high school dropout rates and widespread poverty.

To understand how sugarcane growing stacks up against oil palm , in one acre of sugarcane, after a period of between 16 and 18 months, a farmer harvests about 25 to 60 tonnes of cane.

The chairman of Uganda Association of Sugar Millers, Mr Jim Kabeho, said for each hectare of sugarcane, a farmer harvests 120 tonnes of cane, but this drops to 50 tonnes per hectare if the garden is poorly managed.

He puts each tonne of sugarcane at Shs150,000.

The sugarcanes take between 16 and 18 months to mature, meaning they are quicker to harvest than oil palm, which takes four years.

This indicates that by the time a farmer of oil palm records the first harvest, the sugarcane grower would have harvested twice.

However, the advantage with cultivating oil palm is that the farmer is being supported by the government in terms of funding and technical expertise.

In addition, the government plans to have roads worked on for easy access to oil palm gardens and a refinery will directly employ several youth.

The Namayingo District  Chairman, Mr Ronald Sanya, said they were excited with plans by the government to promote oil palm growing in the area, adding that it will provide an opportunity for the farmers to shift from their reliance on maize as the only cash crop.

He added: “We are moving to encourage farmers to take up the growing of oil palm.”

The Namayingo District Woman Member of Parliament, Ms Margret Makokha, said the introduction of oil palm means for the first time, the farmers will have a “very lucrative” perennial crop which will help them move away from cheaply renting out their land to sugarcane growers.

Projections

The government says if the project is implement well on 10,000 hectares (22, 000 acres) in the three districts, where each acre fetches Shs500,000, within a single month, the crop will fetch Shs11b and Shs132b annually.  The entire 25-year period for which the project is projected, farmers can hope to earn Shs3.3t.

[email protected]