SOROTI– The prices of green vegetables in Teso Sub-region have shot up due to the low supply arising from a dry spell that does not support rain-fed agriculture.
Green vegetables such as sukuma wiki [collard greens], dodo, and eggplants, among others, have had their prices doubled due to scarcity.
Mary Nabude who sells vegetables in Pamba Market, Soroti City West, says she is unable to make more money due to the low farm supplies.
“Normally, when there is scarcity of vegetables, I make more money but this time the drought affected most farmers,” Nabude says.
She says farmers have increased the price of a bundle of sukuma wiki to Shs 1,000 from Shs 700. At the same time, the farmers have changed the pricing of dodo to Shs 500 per bundle from Shs 1,000 for three bundles.
Isaac Waniale, who farms in the swamp in Majengo village, says during the dry season, he makes a lot of money from vegetables because most farmers in the region don’t cultivate.
Waniale supplies markets of Nakatunya, Pamba, and Soroti Main Market in Soroti City.
He says the demand for vegetables is usually high during the dry season, which does not support rain-fed agriculture.
Further, Waniale is worried that government’s decision to move people out of the wetlands will worsen the situation of high prices of green vegetables, saying only a few farmers in Teso Sub-region can afford irrigation of their farms during the dry season.
Waniale who also grows rice urges government to allow the farmers to continue cultivating in wetlands, saying government needs to provide them with alternative sources of livelihood before it can move them out of wetlands.
According to Samuel Echengu, an environmentalist in Soroti, farmers who continue to cultivate in the wetlands are doing it illegally since government has banned all activities that lead to the depletion of wetlands.
He recommends that farmers explore kitchen gardens to grow vegetables, which he says are user-friendly and not labour-intensive.
“Kitchen gardens are very easy to manage in terms of watering,” Echengu.
He urged farmers to embrace climate-smart agriculture, which is an approach to farming that increases productivity and resilience to the impacts of climate change.
https://thecooperator.news/farmers-advised-to-grow-fast-maturing-crops-and-vegetables/
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