SUCCES STORY:The farming community around Mpigi district has commended AGT Laboratories Ltd. for sensitising them on embracing the planting of the high-quality yield tissue culture seedlings like matooke, passion fruit, Irish potatoes, and tomatoes, among others.
The developments came to light on Sunday when Ugnewsline.com visited these farmers to find out how they relate to AGT Laboratories in their deliberate journey of fighting household poverty.
Hajji Muhammad Ssembusse is the coordinator of the AGT Laboratories demonstration farm for the greater Masaka region based at Katonga in Nkozi Sub County along the Kampala/Masaka highway in Mpigi district.
He explained how he embraced the AGT tissue culture banana plantlets project several years ago, which has effectively changed his life for the better, as he can afford to send his children to good schools and live a modest life as a humble peasant farmer.
‘I was initially able to use the resources harvested from my vast banana plantation farm to buy a motorcycle, which I used to transport my fresh matooke to the market, as well as set up other smallholder projects such as planting passion fruits, cassava, and tomatoes, among others, he observed.
However, gradually working closely with our area local council leaders, we decided to engage more farmers within the locality to participate in the program, of which they appreciated and are now able to tell their success story about the AGT tissue culture banana project noted by Ssembusse.
He observed how the farmers in Nkozi Sub County are grateful to Mr. Erostus N.W. Nsubuga, the AGT Laboratories company chief executive officer, for his incredible innovations through modern agricultural practices that have enabled them to reap big returns from their farms after embracing his technologies.
The farmers noted Ssembusse are scattered among the several villages of the subcounty who are currently doing well on their respective farms after having undertaken a strategic training program in mastering the planting of the tissue culture leaning plantlets, especially bananas.
The Mpigi district woman member of parliament Teddy Nambooze told this website separately that they view Erostus Nsubuga as a God sent man because of bringing new farmland tissue culture plantlets technologies of which have not only boosted the agricultural productivity potential but enabled many of the farmers to earn from their sweat.
‘As political leaders of Mpigi district, we strongly salute the patriotic efforts of Nsubuga, which have enabled many of our farmers to increase their farmland incomes through embracing the AGT Laboratories technologies,’ noted Nambooze.
She pointed out how they have tried to engage the government to ensure that the long-awaited Biosafety and Biotechnology bill, which has remained shelved in parliament for over a dozen years, comes to see the light of day because of its likely potential impact on the farming population.
‘We are concerned that the government has clandestinely failed to cause the passing of the Biosafety and Biotechnology bill, which has reportedly remained shelved within the parliament for over 20 years without debating it and subsequently passing it into law to benefit our farmers, lamented Nambooze.
She urged that the government should offer both technical and financial support to AGT Laboratories for standing out as the single largest tissue culture plantlet laboratory within the East and Central African region by resuming the buying of his tissue culture plantlets based at both Buloba Wakiso district and Namawojjolo in Mukono district for the Irish potato plantlets through NARO and other agricultural sector bodies for onwards distribution to farmers across the country.
The investments, according to Nambooze, have a record of recently venturing into Irish potato multiplication, and whose labs plan to diversify into the multiplication of commercial quantities of more food crops.
“We have reports from the government that Nsubuga’s plan is to mass produce, for the market, plantings of various cash and food ” crops as well as, until recently, also venturing into medicinal crops, which is key in Uganda’s nascent pathogenic industry, observed Nambooze.
