In a bid to improve farming and turn it into a business, government has issued new guidelines for management of NAADS activities with effect from this financial year.

In a bid to improve farming and turn it into a business, government has issued new guidelines for management of NAADS activities with effect from this financial year.

Under the new guidelines, six farmers are to be selected from each parish to act as demonstration farmers and these will get financial assistance in form of agricultural inputs worth 300,000/= to improve on their productivity.

Other farmers in the parish will then learn modern farming methods from these and go to apply them in their gardens.
 

Another group, called lead farmers will be selected and assisted through the Integrated Support to Farmers Initiative (ISG) and given agricultural inputs including seeds, fertilizers and other inputs worth 600,000/=. Like the model farmers, these are expected to increase their production and pay back the agricultural inputs that will be passed over to other members.
 

Another category is that of Model farmers. Under this group, government through NAADS is to give financial assistance worth 2m/= each to such farmers to help them improve on their productivity including adding value to their products.
 

The District NAADS Coordinator, Peter Kisambira says that each sub county is supposed to select 30 model farmers but this year; only 10 will be selected per Sub County due to budgetary constraints.
 

When all farmers under the three categories are selected, there will be 228 Demonstration farmers, 420 lead farmers and 190 model farmers in the district.
 

Kisambira, adds that NAADS programme in the district has been extended to cover all the 19 Sub Counties and two Town Councils of Iganga and Busembatya during this financial year.
 

NAADS began in Iganga in 1994/95 financial year and it has been expanding to cover other areas each year.

Kisambira, says that a lot has been achieved under the programme though more ground work is still needed to be covered. Increase in food security, improvement of people’s incomes and the spirit of working together, are some of its achievements.
 

He cites Irongo and Nawandala Sub Counties where he says; farmers produced a lot of groundnuts and earned over 15 million shillings in one season. These were encouraged to collect their produce and sell in bulk.
 

The advantage of collective selling among farmers is that it gives them an opportunity to bargain for higher prices and avoid middlemen who in most cases cheat them.

Other enterprises that farmers in the district have undertaken under NAADS include poultry, piggery, fruit farming, maize, upland rice and soya beans.