Nabilatuk want to fully retain govt tractors as demand rises

Nabilatuk , Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nabilatuk district is yet to give out tractors for hire to other districts in the region due to overwhelming demand by farmers.

In April 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries launched a tractor hire scheme in Nabilatuk district to support farmers in Karamoja to boost food production. The ten tractors were delivered to start the pilot study for three weeks before giving them out to other districts in the region.

However, with the overwhelming demand for tractors services in the district, the officials have said they will not allow tractors to cross over to other districts until all farmers have opened up their farm gardens.

Paul Lokol, the LCV Chairperson of Nabilatuk said that since the district was considered for the pilot study of the tractor hire scheme, there is no need to hurry taking it to another district without assessing the progress.

He also said that there is currently a high demand for tractor services and taking them out to other districts would frustrate farmers who have not opened their farmlands.

Jacinta Ayo, the Nabilatuk Deputy Resident District Commissioner said that the tractors should be left to serve the interest of farmers.

She noted the Ministry of Agriculture has already given out some tractors to other districts so that they can catch up with the rainy season.

Simon Lokut, the Nabilatuk District Agricultural Officer said that their target is to plough at least 2,000 acres of farmlands before giving them out to other districts.

Lokut noted that the three-week period is inadequate to finish all the farmlands because of the backlog.

Lokut urged the government to give them the chance to allow the farmers to meet their expectations set for this season.

Joseph Otita, the LCIII Chairperson of Rupa Sub County in Moroto district said that the Initiative for tractor hire scheme was good but poorly implemented.

Otita said that the region has only one season of rain and rotating the tractors in all districts cannot help farmers to beat the deadline for rains.  He suggested that the government could have distributed at least five tractors per district, not on a rotational basis.

John Robert Adupa, the LCIII Chairperson of Lotisan Sub County in Moroto district, said that farmers have resolved to use hand hoes for digging because they cannot wait for tractors.

Adupa said that the tractor hire scheme will not address the problem of food insecurity because of its guidelines.

However, Dr Paul Okullo, the Director of Research at Nabuin Zonal Agriculture Research Institute in charge of the scheme said that although there was an initial plan to rotate the tractors in all districts, Nabilatuk was a target by the government for the pilot study.

He said that the district has many commercial farmers and they will want to use their experience and the outputs to assess the performance of the project before rolling it out to the whole region.

The tractors which were mobilized from Namalere Agricultural Research Center are being kept and managed by Nabuin Zonal Agricultural Research Institute in Nabilatuk district where farmers hire at a rate of 80,000 Shillings per acre.

*****

URN