CIBITOKE May 24th (ABP) – Hesitation is observed among some farmers in Cibitoke province, regarding the adherence to crop rotation, while it is an effective solution to agricultural challenges, according to Jean Mayoya, a member of the Sangwe cooperative of Nyamakarabo. According to him, that resistance is mainly observed among rice farmers, who are unaware of the importance of other crops, as well as the loss of rice yields due to insufficient water.
Mr. Mayoya, who was in the field supervising the cutting of mature rice, adheres to the practice of crop rotation. He acknowledged that it is difficult, or impossible, to find sufficient water for the rice fields in the dry season. He also revealed that rice production losses have been recorded among neighbors due to diseases that have attacked several rice plantations in the 2023 cropping season B in Nyakagunda, Rugombo commune.
As for the director of the BPEAE Cibitoke, Ir. Béatrice Nyabenda, she called on all farmers to rotate their crops for the 2023 cropping season C. According to her, crop rotation, on the same property, helps reduce plant diseases, restore soil fertility, and increase agricultural yield.
Engineer Nyabenda urges the farmers of Nyakagunda and other properties to respect the clauses of their meeting of 26 April, obliging them to rotate their crops. Thus, the rice fields will, in this dry season, be occupied by maize or sweet potato. She said that this was motivated by the outbreak of several plant diseases in Nyakagunda and elsewhere in recent days. The director of the BPEAE, says that the fertility of the soil has decreased in her province, but also that it is difficult to find sufficient irrigation water for rice cultivation in the dry season.
To address this, she informed farmers that 85 tons of PAN 53 hybrid maize seeds are available in the BPEAE Cibitoke stockpile at a subsidized price of 4,500 BIF per kilogram. In communes where PAN 53 is not favorable, such as Mabayi, the Director of BPEAE refers them to NACECO agencies for the variety known as BAZOKA.
Speaking about the government’s program to produce during the dry season and requiring each household to maintain a minimum field of six acres, Director Nyabenda encourages those who have already started and appeals to others to follow suit in order to find food before the harvest of the 2024 cropping season.