‘Going bananas made us rich’ – Rev. Byanyimba
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| The Byanyimba’s in their banana plantation. |
Rev. John Davis Byanyimba Matovu and his wife, Mrs. Margaret Matovu hails from
Bukulula sub-county in Masaka district, an area well known for bountiful banana
plantations. The couple were some of the very first beneficiaries of government’s
NAADS program. As members of Zibula Attude farmers group, they contributed land
to host a Technical Development Site (TDS) under NAADS.
“The TDS agreement was two years for two acres. In each acre we had 450
suckers. From the mother garden we gave each member 50 suckers to develop their
plantations. We gave other suckers to the gombolola and still others to farmers
in Mpigi and Sembabule districts,” Rev. Byanyimba said.
According to Byanyimba, after the initial farmers got suckers to start their
own plantations, they abandoned the maintenance of the demonstration site leaving
him and his wife to incur extra maintenance costs. This however, encouraged
them to use the technical knowledge they had acquired to expand their enterprise
and include sweet banana types mainly Gonja and Bogoya.
“We expanded mainly because the demand for the suckers had grown and the
prices for Matooke had gone up. We now have 2100 stems instead of the initial
420 per acre and have almost five acres under cultivation,” the Reverend
states. “Currently we have 1500 stems of Gonja from the main banana plantation.
It brings in more money. We are proud that under the old NAADS program we got
the knowledge to manage this enterprise. Socially it enables us work as a team
without discrimination. Many people got suckers for Mpologoma (a new banana
variety) that is fast maturing and brings returns,” Mrs. Matovu said.
According to the couple, if well looked after and maintained, banana plantations
can last for years. They buy organic manure which they apply to the garden every
six months.
However, despite the good income prospects from bananas, the challenge is the
high cost of manure and pesticides. “Our main problem is the manure. We
buy a truck load of cow dung at sh60,000. We also have to apply pesticides because
of the pests from the manure. Normally we don’t sell the suckers to farmers,
however, because of the raising costs of maintaining the garden, we ask members
to pay sh300 per sucker towards maintenance,” Rev. Byanyimba says. Depending
on the season, a bunch of banana ranges between sh7,000 to sh8,000, while the
cost of Gonja ranges between sh8,000 to sh10,000 per bunch. The couple is excited
about the NAADS program, describing it as a good source of knowledge for farmers
still stuck with the traditional methods of agricultural.
He appreciated the NAADS programme for having helped them acquire new methods
of farming that had boosted their banana production over the years.
“The use of cow dung as manure, for example, is very important and environmentally
friendly,” he said.
By the time of our visit the couple had intercropped part of their banana
plantation with tomatoes.
Rev. Matovu stressed though, that farmers must stick to prescribed pesticides
to avoid pest and disease attacks.
They testified that they harvest over 40 bunches of bananas from each acre
per month. This means they are in position to earn between sh1.2m to sh1.6m
per month. The proceeds, the couple said helps them to educate their children
and meeting their family needs.
