Nebbi cotton farmers concerned as heavy rains hit gardens  

NEBBI- Cotton farmers in Nebbi district are concerned about the bad weather which they say has affected both the quality and quantity of yields this year.

Cotton is one of the traditional cash crops that farmers in the district have banked on since colonial times, even though it is labour-intensive.

However, farmers add they expect poor cotton yields this year as a result of bad weather characterised by excessive rains that create a conducive environment for cotton pests and diseases that attack the crop.

Alfred Onencan, one of the farmers in Nebbi Sub-county told this reporter that due to the heavy rains experienced this year, most of the cotton planted failed to yield good results.

He said that on average, an acre of planted cotton is supposed to generate 1, 200 kilogrammes [kgs] at maturity but due to the excessive rainfall which affected both growth, less than half of the projected kgs will be harvested.

He added that, due to excessive rains in the area, cotton plantations have been attacked by multiple pests and diseases like cotton strainers, boll warms and Jessie disease, which affects the cotton bolls.

“Many of the farmers will be struggling to harvest cotton from their plantations since little will be realised as low as 300kgs per acre because of the too much rainfall,” Onenchan said.

The area supervisor Cotton Development Organization [CDO], Patrick Berochan also confirmed the farmers’ fears, saying the cotton to be harvested this year will be of poor quality due to heavy rains.

He added that most farmers are poor to afford insecticides for constant spraying of their cotton plantation, which he says makes pests and disease take advantage of excessive rainfalls to attack the plantations.

He said farmers would this season less than the anticipated quantities of cotton due to heavy rains that give pests and diseases an enabling environment to attack gardens.

The LC III Chairperson Ndhew Sub-county, Nebbi district Bosco Okwai said, cotton farmers must be introduced to premium insurance packages such that losses are minimised.

He said that cotton farmers are not only faced with the challenge of excessive rainfall but also little attention being given to cotton farmers in terms of advisory services, which he said makes farmers make losses yearly.

Okwai added cotton seeds are not timely delivered to farmers even as they are expensive, which affects the planting season.

“We must advocate for good agronomy practices to our cotton farmers since less attention is being given and yet the production cost for cotton is very high,” Okwai said.

https://thecooperator.news/nebbi-farmers-shun-cotton-growing-over-short-term-crops/

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