GITEGA August 26 (ABP) – The Director General of ISABU (Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Burundi), Mr. Alfred Niyogushimira, informed farmers that the production of potato seeds has seen a very significant reduction, specifying that it will not be able to meet the demand for the 2022 A cropping season. Therefore, he advised, people must consider alternative crops to fill the void.
ISABU made that call during a meeting it organized jointly with the Directorate-General for Agriculture, on August 25, 2021, for seed multipliers of different production levels, from all corners of the country.
Speaking about the cause linked to this seed shortage of the potato, he said that the sowing of the 2021 B growing season was late so that the productions were very low, deploring that some productions were not still harvested.
For more precision, Mr. Niyogushimira indicated that the quantity of certified potato seed corresponds to 413,740 kg.
The renormalization of the production of these seeds will take place in 2023 or 2024. In addition, the director general of ISABU and that of agriculture were unanimous in opposing the seed multipliers who, by speculation, offer to farmers a mixture of healthy seeds with poor quality seeds.
This cheating leads to bad harvests, they pointed out, before declaring that whoever is caught in that baseness will be ruthlessly punished. “In the event of a problem in the exercise of your profession, they advised, contact the agronomists of your provincial directorate of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock.”
During the discussions, the meeting participants called on the State to create a favorable business climate, citing, among other things, the exemption of necessary imports, access to agricultural bank loans and the sensitization of farmers on the advantage of selected seeds.