Feature: Chinese agronomist helps Uganda's rural farmers boost production

In the remote eastern Ugandan district of Budaka, a Chinese agronomist is helping farmers improve their skills to their farm output.

Every morning, Wei Runwu braves the dew and walks the narrow paths to the villages to share practical skills with the farmers.

"We showed farmers how to make manure to improve soil productivity," he said.

Wei is from a team of Chinese experts and technicians that have been sent to Uganda to provide technical assistance in crop production, aquaculture, horticulture, livestock and agribusiness.

They are working under the framework of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization-China-South to South Cooperation Program.

The program, established in 2009, aims at helping developing countries share knowledge and expertise so that they can benefit from innovations and good practices that have been tried and tested in countries facing similar conditions and challenges.

In Budaka, Wei and his colleagues have carried out demonstrations and comparative tests, which have showed that crops, for instance, the Chinese fox-tail millet, yielded three times more than the local finger millet.

In addition, the Chinese millet has a shorter maturity period, making it easier to avoid Uganda's dry season.

"The quality is better than the local finger millet. For fox-tail millet, the yield is about 2.5-3 tonnes per hectare. This is yield is good for farmers," said Wei.

Results also showed that introduced varieties of Chinese hybrid rice yielded much higher than local varieties.

From one hectare of land, the yield of Chinese rice is three times more than the local breed.

Muzaifa Buyondo, one of the farmers who benefited from Wei's training, told Xinhua that the Chinese style of rice growing is much better compared to the indigenous ways.

He argued that if one follows the right procedures, he or she is likely to get a higher yield, although he noted that the cost of the hybrid seeds and fertilizers are costly to the farmers.

Experts argue that efforts by Wei and his colleagues to share their experiences with farmers are essential in boosting agricultural production, which would later translate into increased household incomes.

They say that focusing on increasing the production of rice and millet is critical in ensuring food security in Uganda and the region.

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda's economy, contributing to about 25 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product, according to official figures.

Over 60 percent of the country's total population of 34 million people derives its livelihood from agriculture. Enditem