New Vision, Uganda
RICHARD Ozelle is a youthful, progressive cotton farmer in Nyamasoga village, in Biiso sub-county in Buliisa district.
He started growing cotton after the death of his father four years ago to make ends meet. Ozelle said he started with an acre of land and gradually increased the acreage to two-and- a half acres after he got good yields.
His household income and livelihood also improved. “As a grown-up orphan, I had to devise means for self-sustainability and economic empowerment since the family’s bread-winner was no more,” Ozelle said.
“Cotton growing was the only option to improve my welfare.” The 30-year-old farmer said he harvested 4.5 bales of cotton seed (about 2,500kg worth sh1.5m) from the 2.5-acre garden he cultivated last year.
A bale of seed cotton is equivalent to 560kg. “This was a good starting point for me because it improved my household income by about 50%.
“It was the catalyst for my present prosperity,” Ozelle said. He said he also sought advice of experienced farmers in his neighbourhood and the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO) field officials on the best crop management practices to sustain the high yields and income.
Ozelle, who is also the chairperson of Kwer Lalo Chan cotton farmers group, practices conventional cotton growing.
He said he hopes to harvest 3,000kg of lint this year.
He advised fellow farmers to seek professional advice and spray the crop to get good returns, adding that CDO officials are always ready to train farmers in the best practices.
“If you don’t spray, the branches and the fruiting points are destroyed, reducing yields per acreage.
“Proper cotton management practices are vital for improved yields.
“I have bought a bicycle, built a three-room permanent house, started a retail shop worth sh1.5m and also paid bride price for my beautiful wife,” he said.
He, however, has no kind words for organic cotton farming. He said organic farming should be suspended because farmers are not yet ready for it.
“Organic cotton growing will sabotage the economy and leave farmers poor,” he said. Uganda earned $19.5m from cotton last year, a 4% reduction from $20.4m in 2014.
CDO?and industry experts have attributed the decline to the adoption of organic cotton growing by the farmers in the traditional cotton growing areas in the north and north-east.
He said he received high quality planting seeds freely and in time. He added that farmers also got pesticides at a subsidised price.
“CDO field and site coordinators are on ground training and sensitizing the farmers on best crop management practices,” he said.
“We have intensified spraying to create a pest- free zone. Weeding and thinning are in high gear and we are bracing our for the marketing season,” Ozelle said.
“Our colleagues in the north are suffering from organic cotton practice whose yields have gone by a half and no one is compensating them for the lost yields. How do you expect them to come out of poverty?”
Ozelle added: “We shall not tolerate organic cotton growing confusion caused by the companies whose motives are not clear.”
“At least farmers here understand and cannot allow to be duped and be condemned to poverty abyss” he warned.
Uganda’s cotton earnings fell by 4% in 2014 from $20.4m in 2014 to $19.5m in 2014.
CDO and industry experts have attributed the decline to most farmers in the traditional cotton growing north and north-eastern adopting organic cotton growing last season.
