The central region too can grow cotton

There is a new effort to massively grow cotton in Buganda as used to be the case during pre-colonial times.

The cotton production campaign spearheaded by Buganda Kingdom has already started in Mawokota County where farmers have begun growing the crop.

Stephen Lujwala, one of the pioneer cotton growers in Mawokota has told Seeds of Gold that cotton production was once a major economic activity in the Central Region which must not be ignored today in the struggle to alleviate poverty in Buganda, a region with all the climatic requirements for growing the crop. 

“Along with coffee, cotton used to be the main source of money for most households. As we resume growing the crop we expect to see ginneries and textile industries set up in the area and more employment opportunities created.”

He said Owekitiibwa Kaddu Kiberu, a high ranking official in the Buganda Kingdom, is nowadays a frequent visitor in Mawokota, mobilising farmers to take up cotton growing and providing seeds and promising to get a market for the crop after harvest. He is also reportedly telling farmers that Buganda Kingdom intends to promote cotton growing the way it is doing for coffee.

Cotton is a raw material for manufacturing cloth, soap, margarine, paints, lubricants and cooking oil. Its by-products are turned into livestock feeds.

Asked whether he is aware of the many insect pests that have beset cotton production in most cotton growing regions of Uganda, Lujwala said the cotton variety given to the farmers so far is not so prone to pest attack except for a pest known as the Bollworm that is a nuisance.

He said however that a pesticide called Striker, purchased from farmers’ shops, is effective in fighting it. The high expenditure on pesticides has proven a major drawback in cotton production and forced many countries to resort to Bt-cotton which is resistant to the bollworm. Will Buganda find its way around high input costs occasioned by pests? 

Dr Michael Ugen who leads the cotton research in National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) based at National Semi Arid Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI) ruled out the Bt-cotton option and said Naro has developed a number of conventionally bred and high yielding cotton varieties with desired fiber qualities suitable for Buganda region and promising high yielding lines which can be tested for environmental adaptability in Buganda region.