ENTEBBE, October 11, 2025 —In a bid to fight food insecurity in the country, the National Agricultural Research Organisation [NARO] has handed over 13 new potato varieties to seed companies for multiplication and distribution to the interested farmers.
The event held recently at Aquatic Research and Development Centre in Kajjansi, Wakiso district, is part of the commercialisation strategy that seeks to ensure that farmers access quality seed for increased productivity and incomes.
Speaking at the event, , NARO Deputy Director General in charge of technology promotion Dr. Sadik Kassim said the arrangements establish a streamlined system for farmers to access quality seed while also generating revenue to sustain research and innovation.
“This is a journey we commenced in 2017 by establishing an Intellectual Property and Commercialization Unit at the NARO headquarters and later signed up the first 10 companies in 2021. By last year, we had signed up 26 companies in total for different varieties of NARO technologies,” said Kassim.
The Director General of NARO, Dr. Yona Baguma, underlined the centrality of seeds to the agricultural value chain.
“Seed is the beginning of productivity. Without quality seed, there can be no sustainable transformation. This milestone affirms our mission to feed the nation, protect the environment, enhance farmers’ incomes, and strengthen national security,” he said.
He challenged the seed companies to provide farmers with proper guidance on agronomic practices to ensure that the varieties achieve their yield potential.
He pledged that NARO would continue supporting the seed companies with a diagnostic system to ensure that the seeds’ integrity is maintained for maximum yields for the farmers.
He noted there is a need to establish a network of potato seed hubs across the country to reach more farmers.
On behalf of the seed multipliers, the Managing Director of FICA Seeds, Narsis Tushabe, noted that access to quality seed remained a major bottleneck for potato production, forcing Uganda to import from neighboring countries.
“With this partnership, we look forward to empowering farmers with quality seed and reducing imports,” he said.
The new potato varieties will be officially launched during the World Food Day celebrations at NARO’s Rwebitaba Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Fort Portal City on October 16, 2025.
The new potato varieties include those released recently, NAROPOT 7 to 10, bred specifically for industrial use and capable of yielding over 25 tons per hectare, developed targeting substituting the importation of potatoes by big industry players.
The other varieties handed over are, Uganda 11 [also known as Rutuku], Victoria, KACHPOT 1, NAROPOT 1 to 6, among them NAROPOT 4, also known as Rwangume.
The private multipliers including FICA Seeds, Kabale Irish Potato Agri-business Limited [KIPAL], Okeba Uganda Limited, Parlex Enterprise Uganda Limited, Tabid Farm Seeds Africa Limited, Ujamma Seed Company Limited, CADCA Seeds Limited, Sterling Seeds Limited, and Syova Seeds [U] Limited.
https://thecooperator.news/egypts-sweet-potato-exports-surge-amid-growing-demand-in-europe/
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