Prime
Importance of land to the farmer
A farmer inspects his coffee garden in Kyotera District on May 15, 2024. PHOTO/MICHEAL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- It is immovable property and it is not expandable unless the farmer acquires more acreage. Where there is high population pressure land is scarce and expensive.
- Even in rural areas where the population is not so dense, land is limited and in short supply.
Land is the most important possession in the farming business. It is the geographical area where the farmer grows crops and keeps livestock. It is the area where farm infrastructure is built.
It is immovable property, and it is not expandable unless the farmer acquires more acreage. Where there is high population pressure land is scarce and expensive. Even in rural areas where the population is not so dense, land is limited and in short supply.
This is the reason some people have no land at all while others own large areas and do commercial farming. Land is important not just because of its capacity to support profitable agriculture but it could also have extremely valuable minerals hidden under its surface.
To the farmer land is an important factor of production. Its soil should be fertile enough to support cultivation of crops and raising of livestock. It should be in an area with favourable rainfall.
Most preferably it should be located not far from a reliable water source, like a river or a lake, in case irrigation is to be needed once in a while. It should be large enough to accommodate the use of heavy machines.
The farmer must be sure of the land’s form of tenure. It is no use putting a lot of expensive items like piped water systems and strong farmhouses on land that is borrowed or rented. There seems to be too many complaints nowadays about people being chased from what they know to be their land.
Often the disputes are due to little understanding of our nation’s land laws and regulations. But there is also an obvious desire by some people to grab as much land as possible to carry out large scale farming.
The farmer has the duty to keep the land productive by conserving and improving the soil. His livelihood depends heavily on the capacity of the land to produce crops and livestock. There must therefore be a regular supply of inputs such as good seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides.
Every effort should be made to conserve soil fertility such as digging water trapping trenches for people working on slopes as a measure of mitigating soil erosion.
Mulching also goes a long way to prevent soil erosion.
Mr Michael Ssali is a veteran journalist
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