Rice farmers count losses as prices drop
The prices have decreased from Shs2,500 to Shs1,500 per kilogramme. A 100kg sack of rice now goes for Shs150,000 from Shs250,000. PHOTO | FILE
Rice prices have gone down, the lowest the farmers have registered in the market over the past two years.
Rice production is a popular economic activity in Butaleja District, where rice is cultivated mainly in Doho Irrigation Scheme, one of the biggest rice growing schemes in the country.
The price slump has been blamed on low consumption occasioned by Covid-19 induced lockdown.
The prices have decreased from Shs2,500 to Shs1,500 per kilogramme. A 100kg sack of rice now goes for Shs150,000 from Shs250,000.
This has left farmers in a fix as they can barely register enough profit to take care of their family needs such as food, education, and hospital expenses, among others.
Mr Shabani Majanjasi, a rice farmers, who owns more than five acres, says the continued ban on public gatherings has also worsened the situation.
“The consumption of rice is low and this is why the price has terribly dropped. We used to sell our rice in big quantities and better prices to the organisers of public gatherings such as weddings, burials, and so on but this is no longer the case,” he said.
President Museveni banned public gatherings in March in bid to control the spread of Covid-19.
Ms Nyanga Rema, another rice farmer, said she has failed to get buyers for her stock even at a low price yet she has debts to pay.
Doho Scheme has more than 2,500 acres of land with 9,000 farmers, who are involved as both outgrowers and part of the scheme growers. Statistics from the Butaleja District production office estimates that the district produces about 65,000kgs of milled rice every year.
Mr Isaac Kabasa, the general secretary of Doho Irrigation Scheme, said it is unfortunate that rice imported into the country has not been affected.
“Rice from India and Pakistan, which is the same as ours, is being sold highly compared to the rice produced in the country. This is unfair, ” he said.
Mr Jimmy Ebil Ssegawa, the Butaleja resident district commissioner, said government will support farmers cope with the situation through government programmes such as Emyooga.
