Twaha Kakooza who owns four acres of oranges at Bubajjwe village in the Kayunga district, says oranges do not need so much care.
“A little manure before planting and some spraying quarterly are all that it takes. A single tree will barely take three feet of your space,” he says.
According to Kakooza, each orange seedling is planted in a large hole of about three feet wide and the soil must be well-drained.
Orange seedlings must be weeded frequently for the first three years as weeds can quickly kill them.
Oranges are left on the tree until they are ripe, as they do not ripen off the tree. The time of harvest varies depending on the variety.
Oranges are grown in warm regions, although they are native to south-eastern Asia.
Notable orange growing areas include the southern United States, Israel, and Brazil, commonly growing sweet oranges.
In Uganda, oranges are mainly grown in the east, especially Teso region.
In the central region, oranges are grown around Mityana and Mubende, while in the west, they are grown in Kabale, but on a small scale.
Kakooza says oranges are considered to be high-value crops because a farmer can harvest a lot of them from a very small piece of land.
For example, an acre of oranges can give a farmer over sh40m per year depending on the market.
In Uganda, oranges are both eaten as a fruit or squeezed for juice. The Valencia orange is cultivated and sold as fresh fruit and is also used for orange juice.
The Navel orange is seedless, less juicy than the common orange, and has a small second fruit growing at one end of the fruit.
The Bergamot orange is primarily grown for oils for cosmetics and flavouring.
There is a ready market for oranges across, not only Kampala but also other parts of the region, including Kenya and Tanzania.
