Farmers turn to soybean amid falling maize prices

Jinja. Farmers in Busoga Sub-region have turned to growing soybean following a fall in maize prices.
The farmers, who are organising themselves into small soya agribusiness groups, say the crop has proved profitable due to its stable prices.
“In 2015, 10 members from different villages in Butagaya Sub-county, Jinja District, abandoned maize growing and switched to soybean growing and the money they got from it was unbelievable compared to what was being reaped from maize,” says Mr Sam Kigere, a farmer from Kamira Village in Butagaya Sub-county, Jinja District.
He adds that the group has now increased its membership to 62 farmers under Butagaya Soya Agribusiness Group.
According to Mr Kigere, the group was formed to collect soybean in bulk so as to be in a better collective bargaining position while selling.

“Farmers resorted to growing soybean with the backing of Sasakawa Global 2000, an international NGO that in 2016 joined government to promote agriculture and development,” Mr Kigere says.
Soybean, the farmers say, is drought and disease resistant and easy to grow while maximising its yields.
The farmers say under normal conditions, an acre of land generates between seven and eight bags of soybean, with each bag fetching Shs250,000 in a three-month season, which was not the case with maize.
The farmers say the stable prices of the crop (Shs2,000 per kg) have increased their income.
“Since I started growing soybean, paying my children’s school fees stopped being a problem and as I talk now, some of them are finishing university, which was not the case when I was growing maize,” says Ms Irene Nakisuyi, a farmer from Butagaya Village in Butagaya Sub-county.
Ms Nakisuyi adds that she uses only one acre of land to grow soybean.
She, however, decries the lack of machine to help during harvesting and post-harvest handling.
Mr Simon Peter Olupot, a soybean farmer from Wakatanga Village in Buyanga Sub-county, in the newly created district of Bugweri, says they formed a cooperative society that owns 26 acres of land ostensibly for soybean growing.
“Our cooperative differs from others because it involves seed multiplication that we sell to other farmers for planting,” he says.
Mr Olupot adds that Makerere University and Sasakawa Global 2000 help them in post- harvest handling.
“Makerere University and Sasakawa have skilled personnel in the field of agriculture and we move together as we go about production to ensure quality that we maintain the good prices for our soybean,” Mr Olupot says.
The Sasakawa Senior theme coordinator for post-harvest handling and agro processing, Mr James Mulangira, while touring the soybean farmers in Busoga Sub-region recently, praised the quality of soybean produced by the farmers.
He, however, said government should focus on what the farmers exactly need such as subsidies, tools and inputs. “Farmers are willing to increase on their household income but lack such capacity which government must provide,” he said.