GITEGA January 16th (ABP) – The Prime Minister of Burundi, Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca, brought together on Thursday January 12, 2023, in the premises of the paramedical school of Gitega (center of the country), all the stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the national level, in order to assess the progress of cropping season A and prepare cropping season B in advance.
The Prime Minister gave the floor to each director of the provincial office of the environment, agriculture and livestock (BPEAE) to present the current situation of agricultural inputs provided in their area of intervention. After that presentation, the Prime Minister noted that for cropping season A, the majority of farmers have been served, the fertilizer has been ordered but that there are still few tokens not yet served. He also noted that different crops are in good condition in several localities of the country even if the rain fell late. He hopes the production for this season will be good as the rain continues to fall favorably.
To that end, he called on the directors of the BPEAEs and the agronomists to sensitize the people to sow beans in the maize fields and to be sure that the seeds they are going to sow are selected in order to increase production in the cropping season B even if the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Prosper Dodiko, pointed out that the stock of selected beans in the seed centers is much lower than the demand, hence, according to him, the seed sector which is sovereignty must be reformulated. He pointed out that the seed centers currently have 172 tons while the provinces of Kirundo, Ngozi and Muramvya, for example, have ordered 1,350 tons, 1,293 tons and 201 tons respectively.
Here, the Prime Minister imposed the ministry in charge of agriculture to set up until February 15, 2023 a stock of seeds of imported selected beans to support the seeds available in the seed centers, in order not to fall into errors. He also called on the owners of the seed centers not to sell on the market the selected seeds that they have multiplied, taking into account that the price that ISABU has set on those seeds is much lower compared to the current price of beans on the market. He said that the government of Burundi will review that price.
As a response to that problem, Mr. Dodiko reassured the Prime Minister that to deal with that challenge, the ministry in charge of agriculture sent a team of ISABU experts outside the country to look for good varieties of beans that can be grown in Burundi and that can give a good yield. To that end, he pointed out that those varieties of beans will be examined once introduced into the country and that the ministry will set up a team which will be responsible for regular monitoring. He also said that in future prospects, the ministry in charge of agriculture intends to set up demarcated, developed and irrigated agricultural areas to increase national production. He said it will also set up two agro-poles, one in Karusi and the other in the Imbo plain and that foreign experts have already arrived in the country.