Citrus farmers look to the future with hope

Bukomansimbi District leaders have rejected orange seedlings supplied by government under Operation Wealth Creation Programme and asked for beans instead. File photo

Almost two decades ago, John Michael Onapito, a farmer in Kabukol village in Mukongoro Sub County, Kumi District had just been laid off as a parish chief when he embarked on citrus farming.
From about an acre of land that he had bought with savings out of his employment, Onapito set up a garden for raising citrus seedlings.

Shortly after that, he secured another piece of land for commercial orange farming and he has not regretted taking up the enterprise that many dread.
“People from my village laughed at me saying I was frustrated after losing my job because I had given up my two gardens to grow oranges. I ignored the mockery but the endurance is beginning to pay off,” Onapito says.

Mobilisation
He is now considered to be one of the model citrus nursery farmers or operators in Teso. His nursery boasts of the capacity to supply at least 50,000 seedlings in a year and earn about Shs50m if each seedling is bought at Shs1,000.
He anticipates to earn more with Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) currently buying citrus seedlings at Shs4,000 each for distribution to farmers in the region.
Through the programme, there is a mobilisation of communities in the region to take up commercial citrus farming.
“I have been supplying seedlings to other farmers for almost 10 years and there are many other nurseries to satisfy the demand,” Onapito noted.

Meet the standards
According to Teso Fruit Growers Association (Tefga), at least six million orange trees have been grown in the past decade as farmers eagerly anticipate completion of a fruit factory in Soroti.
A government agronomist, Richard Omollo said the oranges that most farmers had been growing, however, cannot meet the standards required by the fruit processing plant.
“There is need for more citrus trees to be planted in Teso and this means increasing demand for the right variety and quality of seedlings,” he says.

A labour-intensive venture though, several farmers have since taken to raising citrus seedlings.
Charles Okello, 20, from Adodoi village, Kanyumu Sub County in Kumi District, who dropped out of school after O’ Level, has since embarked on raising improved orange seedling varieties for sale to other farmers.
He says, “I learnt how to bud citrus seedlings from a neighbour when I was about 12 years old. It is easy to adopt the skill but very delicate and not many farmers are good at it.”

Support
With an estimated 120,000 improved citrus seedlings ready for transplanting, Okello hopes the proceeds from the sale of seedlings would enable him to return to school next year.
During the lengthy dry season last year though, he lost more than 5,000 seedlings. He is worried the damage might hurt his efforts.
With support from aBiTrust, which supports agribusiness development, several commercial tree nurseries managed by such farmers have since been established in Bukedea, Kumi and Ngora districts.

“The organisation has supported nursery operators with basic inputs, knowledge and skills to enhance their capacity,” notes Dan Basaija, Program Manager for Build Africa, a charity overseeing the support to Teso farmers.
“We have also trained more than 10,000 farmers in management of orchards.”
He said the support would lead to increased incomes for both individual farmers and nursery owners as they take advantage of market opportunities.

Leading producer
Coordinator for Operation Wealth Creation in Teso, Maj. Isa Arisai reveals there is a process to identifying farmers with experience in citrus technologies to supply seedlings.
He adds that Teso is ranked as a leading producer of citrus in the country; it is the reason why government is setting up of a fruit processing factory to provide ready market for the farmers’ produce.

“Alongside that, the farmers should be linked to organisations and individuals who can readily buy what they have,” remarks Gaudesio Opio, a member of Tefga.
While Teso has suitable weather and soils for commercial citrus farming, by involving local farmers in government’s programmes like OWC, it would create checks for lapses that tend to discourage the farmers from sustaining citrus production.