Cotton farmers in the Acholi sub-region are registering low cotton yields per acre way below the global average.
The international average kilograms of cotton per acre is 900 kilograms. However, statistics show that yields remain low at a maximum of 700 kilograms per acre.
Douglas Bhosopo, a seeds inspector at Uganda Cotton Ginners and Exporters Association revealed that in some areas, farmers get just between 200-300 kilograms per acre.
Bhosopo said although there are multiple reasons that affect the yields of cotton in the sub-region, soil infertility and shallow plouging as among the top factors.
Bhosopo explained that because many farmers do surface ploughing the cotton roots don’t go deep enough, leaving the plants with inadequate nutrients and very few branches to bear the cotton bolls.
According to Bhosopo, most farmers are unable to employ the use of a tractor because of the costs. He said there is a need to introduce chisel ploughs that farmers can use even after planting their cotton.
Peter Okello, a cotton farmer in Kitgum district, said he normally gets between 400-500 kilograms per acre, depending on the regularity of rain.
Okello said he uses a hand hoe to clear his cotton field because hiring a tractor is expensive and adds to the cost of growing the crop which he says is already labor-intensive.
Okello said besides the fluctuating and low price of cotton does not motivate the farmers to inject a lot of money into cultivating it. He argues that if farmers were given a fair price of a minimum of 3,000 Shillings per kilogram, it would be fair.
According to Okello, hiring a tractor ranges between 80,000 to 120,000 Shillings per acre, depending on know-how or the number of acres to be worked on.
Okello chooses to use his hand hoes, saying hiring a tractor would narrow his profit margin.
Charles Picha, a cotton farmer in Lamwo district, who has been growing cotton for years now, told Uganda Radio Network that his yield per acre ranges from 400-600 kilograms per acre.
Picha said there are no tractors for hire in his area, and he is not sure how much it would cost.
Bhosopo said there is a need for the government to help cotton farmers with tractors so that they can rightly cultivate their cotton fields.
Bhosopho disclosed that besides poor farming methods, farmers also lose a lot because of the effect of cotton strainers.
Cotton strainers are plant-feeding bugs that destroy cotton plants by sucking their sap and leaving stains on their cotton bolls with their excrements.
He explained that when the cotton strainers feed on the cotton seed, they are lighter. This he says makes a farmer lose between 100-200 kilograms per acre. In monetary terms, the loss can translate to between 200,000-400,000 Shillings per acre, which could be saved by using an insecticide of 3,000 Shillings.
Cotton is Uganda’s third largest export crop after coffee and tea, and a source of income for at least 250,000 households in Uganda, according to the Cotton Development Organization-CDO.
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