President Yoweri Museveni has warned National Agriculture Advisory Services (Naads) for which his brother Gen Caleb Akandwanaho aka Salim Saleh is national coordinator against fake imported seeds.
While officiating at the handover of value addition equipment and grants to beneficiary farmer organizations at the Namalere Agricultural Referral Mechanization Centre in Wakiso on October 10, Museveni told off Naads for promoting poor quality imported seeds at the expense of indigenous ones.
“There are things you are bringing, which my people have been buying from the market like onions, these are not onions – n’ebiti-marogo [they are fake] – they just bring things which look like onions but there is nothing when you eat; even some of the oranges, when you put it in the mouth, there is nothing there,” complained Museveni.
“For months now, I have boycotted onions because we no longer have ‘serious onions’. We are losing our original seeds with real flavor like onions, tomatoes oranges, and others just because some outsiders said we should lose them. They must be restored.”
He then sounded a warning to Naads over the importation of fake seeds.
“So, I want to warn you people, especially Naads and the commissioner [in charge] of crops: save us from these carelessly imported seeds. We have very good local seeds,” he directed.
EQUIPMENT HANDOVER
Meanwhile, the president noted that the handover of the equipment was “aimed at reminding farmers that agriculture is a business and they should earn from it.”
He pledged more support for farmers.
“It is just the beginning, we are going to do more for the farmers,” he promised, after emphasizing that the equipment, made by “here in Uganda by Musa Body limited and the other companies” should go to farmers in the villages.
