RUTANA November 22nd (ABP) – The authorities of Rutana province (south-eastern Burundi), in that case the adviser to the governor in charge of administration and finance and the director of the Provincial Office of the Environment, of Agriculture and Livestock proceeded Friday November 19, in Kayove village in Rutana commune, to the launch of the campaign of fertilization, spraying and establishment of new coffee plants as part of the research of the increase in production, both qualitative and quantitative, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
All the communal agricultural executives and agricultural monitors from the Rutana commune as well as a good number of coffee growers were at the rendezvous. They also noted the presence of a member of the Office for the Development of the Coffee Sector (ODECA), Mr. Alexandre Minani who, in a few words, made known the mission of the Office that he represented. He indicated that ODECA was set up to disengage the private sector from the supervision of coffee growing in order to increase productivity, both qualitative and quantitative. To do this, he said, the State has enacted measures allowing coffee growers easy access to inputs such as fertilizers which are subsidized up to 80% and phytosanitary products which are entirely the responsibility of the State. For Mr. Minani, the good quality of the coffee, which starts from planting, fertilization and pest control, generates money.
In his speech after the demonstration on how to spray to control coffee bugs, how to apply fertilizers and how to set up new plants, the adviser in charge of administrative and financial affairs, who had represented the governor, recalled that the culture of coffee was introduced in Burundi more than 100 years ago, when the country was still under the yoke of colonization, in 1920. “This culture is very important for the country because it generates more than 80% of the currencies that the country uses, he stressed, inviting the people to indulge in this culture by considering setting up new plants to not only replace the old ones, but also to increase their number for that, he said, sensitization of the people is necessary so that people indulge in that culture.