DOKOLO – Ipara Cooperative and Marketing Society based in Dokolo Town Council has asked the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries to help with the procurement of a tractor, saying it will help members to produce oil seeds.
The secretary manager, Agnes Owiny told this reporter during a brief interview on Monday that the tractor is needed for the production of mainly sunflower and soybeans since the two are in high demand.
“The production of soybean and sunflower in the Lango Sub-region has shot up due to the mushrooming factories and industries in Lira City,” she said.
She said the cooperative has 4,000 registered members who also grow maize on top of the oil seeds.
She said farmers in Lango Sub-region have turned to growing sunflower and soybeans for commercial purposes, almost replacing cotton which faces challenges of price fluctuation, poor production, and limited market.
“We are preparing to place our request to the Ministry of Agriculture but we are still in negotiation with companies that supply tractors to identify the specification of the machine we need,” she said.
She said the cooperative has been consistently engaged in farming, getting better market, and outsourcing quality seeds for its members, thus helping them to minimise losses arising from lack of market and poor seeds.
She said the cooperative this year wants to engage in value addition to earn more money for the members.
She added: “We [ Ipara Cooperative and Marketing Society ] have already done some planting. In the next planting season, we need to embrace mechanisation to increase production and productivity,” she added.
https://thecooperator.news/serere-cooperative-to-boost-oil-seed-production/
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