KARUSI February 11th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye met on Wednesday 09/02/2022 in Karusi, the governors of the provinces and the executives of the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, for the evaluation of cropping season A and the preparation of cropping season B.
The Head of State indicated that in this country where more than 90% of the people live from agriculture, the latter is considered as the bedrock of development.
He added that agricultural policy must make the farmer the richest person in the country, he revealed.
Like the United States of America “the peasant” to say the farmer must become a person considered in relation to his wealth, announced the Burundian head of state.
According to Mr. Ndayishimiye, “we must move from production agriculture to processing agriculture, from subsistence agriculture for consumption to agriculture for marketing and think about export rather than the importance of agricultural products or breeding”, while declaring that it is a gamble.
In his statement of achievements, the Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Mr. Déo Guide Rurema positively assessed cropping season A. He pointed out that the executives and technicians of his ministry were at the side of farmers and breeders during the cropping season A.
Minister Rurema also affirmed that the initiation of an agricultural practice of pooling plots of land has been accepted at a satisfactory level and inputs have been available in time for better production, specifying that a tonnage of 819,244 of maize, of which 30,579 on the plots of land pooled are estimated as harvests for cropping season A. According to Mr. Rurema, the production of rice, beans and potatoes has followed the same rhythm.
Talking about preparations for cropping season B, Minister Rurema admitted that FOMI fertilizers and selected bean seeds will be available. He indicated that special emphasis will be placed on the cultivation of rice on 52,000 ha, while noting that 32,000 ha are already cultivated.
The Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock also meant that the supervision of the population in the protection of the environment by tracing contour lines and in the multiplication of product processing units agricultural and dairy will continue.
Note that after the meeting, President Evariste Ndayishimiye visited his fish farm located in Murotso in the valley of the Ndurumu river which separates the communes of Buhiga and Bugenyuzi.