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Most farmers have failed to earn from banana growing in the country, yet a big chunk of the population in Uganda depend on bananas as their daily meal.
Western and central regions have the highest number of people who grow bananas.
Paul Okurut, a researcher at Kawanda Agricultural Institute, says bananas are the only crop that can give you food and money at the same time.
He, however, says most people complain about the frequent drop down in banana prices because they do not care about the weight and type of matooke grown.
Okurut shares a few tips on how to improve banana farming as a business;
- Site selection is key. Clear land the well and ensure not to plant your crop in weed-infested places. Weeds are the biggest problem in farming because they lead to low yields or no yield. Besides, a farmer will lose a lot of money in spraying the weeds.
- Select banana varieties for growing that pay such as entaragaza, mbwazirume, kibuzi and kitika. These varieties are tasty, soft, mature fast and are heavy.
- Control and fight pests mostly the blue black (kayovu) and banana bacterial wilt.
- Always prioritise the size, quality and weight of the banana for you to benefit from banana farming as a business.
