Rashidah Mpinga, a large-scale rice outgrower in Kalungu, an agricultural district in Uganda’s Southern Region, gets ready to harvest her rice. She’s going to rent a combine harvester and a tractor from Zhong’s Industries Limited, a Chinese private enterprise.
She expects to harvest over 30 tons of Asian rice from her 10-acre field. Soon after sun drying, Rashidah will take it to Zhong’s processing factory and then negotiate payment.
The former banana farmer switched to upland rice growing following the banana wilt disease invasion.
The recent flood which devastated new rice paddies has forced farmers and the company to look at strategies to prevent a repeat as well as introducing varieties with a shorter growing period.
Four years ago, Zhong Company identified several upland rice farmers who were interested in mechanized rice growing. It is the largest rice grower in the Southern region with 3,000 acres of land. The company is located on the Lwera plateau along the Kampala – Masaka highway.
Rashidah, among them, was trained in land preparation, planting nursery beds, transplanting the rice, applying the right quality and quantity of fertilisers and seeds, irrigation techniques and harvesting processes.
They further benefited from the subsidised fertilisers, quality seeds, machinery and the rice processing services at the factory.
Since it is the company’s experienced tractor operators managing the machinery, there is minimal wear and tear covered by the company.
Rashidah notes that with the mechanised system, one acre of African rice can yield about four tons while the Asian variety can yield slightly more.
Initial Land Requirement Reduced for Greater Inclusion
Initially, the company targeted farmers who had at least five acres with high expectation of collecting larger yields.
Since several interested farmers with small acres were left out of the scheme, the company did not realise its target and they have since adjusted the project to attract more farmers with at least one-and-a-half or two acres of land.
The company sells more than 40 tons of rice every day to retail and wholesale, both locally and in Kampala. Currently, they are concentrating on Uganda but their ultimate goal is to supply the East African region and to go international.
“As our estates expand more and more in addition to increase the number of outgrowers, I am sure Uganda can become self-sustaining in terms of rice production, hence reducing importation of rice from Tanzania and Pakistan,” says Zhong Shuang Quan, the proprietor of Zhong’s Industries Limited.
In 2019, Uganda imported 80,000 tons up from 60,000 tons in 2018 while local production stands at just over 159 metric tons.
Strong Institutional Backing to Project
The project provides a ready market for the rice and it has a strong backing of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), the Kalungu District Authorities.
Willy Ssenyonga, another out-grower, owns 20 acres in Bugweri village. He plans to acquire more land in two years for further expansion of his rice project. “I dream to become one of the largest rice growers in the district and the region,” he says.
The farmers claim to be hindered by the increasing processing fees. It has increased from UGX150 per kilogram in the first two years, to UGX250 currently. However, the company administrators attribute the changes to the increasing cost of production.
Victor Mpinga, Zhong’s company manager in Uganda, says that with the mechanised system of farming, several out-growers have increased their production and incomes.
Post-Harvest Rice Losses Minimized
Formerly, he notes, the farmers would rely largely on the sun to dry their rice before processing. Now they can utilise the existing dryer at the factory and dry their rice in the rainy season.
“The factory helps to minimise post-harvest losses caused by poor storage and the bad drying practices such as putting the rice on a wet floor,” he said.
According to Mpinga, the farmers are free to sell their rice before processing it or to sell it to the factory before processing. If the farmers wish to sell processed rice, then they have to foot the processing costs.
Disaster Mitigation Strategies Implemented After Recent Floods
Between April and May 2020 floods submerged over 100 acres of rice near Lake Victoria. The devastated rice paddies had been planted for the first time.
According to Mpinga, the company made a loss of UGX250m (USD67,397).
He says that they relied upon the weather forecast by the Uganda National Meteorology Authority at the time, adding that there was little preparedness since they expected to get the usual rainfall. However, the rainfall persisted for several months and triggered flash floods that submerged the rice fields.
“We have learnt from past and recent experiences and have since advanced our disaster preparedness strategies. We have undertaken different practical drills on how to reduce floods either by using pumps to siphon or increase the number of channels in and around the paddies to divert the floods,” he says.
They have further engaged outgrowers and shared experiences and solutions about flash floods or prolonged dry spell among other challenges.
He adds that the birds consume at least more than 50kgs every day, particularly in the field during the harvest season and the sun-drying process. “But we have assigned more workers a task of chasing them (birds).”
Despite the difficulties of the past year, Rashidah is looking ahead at the next planting season to grow more rice. “Although the floods interfered with my yields last season, I hope to plant a different variety that grows within at least three-and-a-half months,” she notes.
Davis Buyonda is a freelance journalist based in Masaka, Uganda.
