Seven years ago, Aaron Lutalo started pineapple farming on half an acre but he has now dedicated 12 acres of land to pineapple growing. He has over 140,000 plants. He harvests at least 2,000 per day at the peak of the season. His shamba is found at Kakumu, 10 miles from Luweero town, off the Luweero-Wabusana Road. He is not the only farmer, growing pineapples; there are several others: Joseph Ssemugenyi and Sam Matovu, among others.
According to estimates, pineapples are grown on over 1,500 acres in Luweero, while in Kayunga, especially in Bugerere, there are over 2,000 acres. However, 98% of these pineapples are sold without any value addition. Value addition increases the farmers' profits. "We are at the mercy of the buyers. We cannot decide how much to sell our pineapples during the harvest season," says Ssebugenyi. And yet, growing pineapples requires a lot of effort. "It takes 18 months for a pineapple to mature," says Lutalo.
Even simple fruit driers are yet to be acquired by most farmers. If well-dried, a kilogramme of pineapples costs sh8,000, compared to the paltry sh500 they get from every fresh pineapple. A simple drier, made with materials from Kenya and Uganda costs sh500,000. However, few farmers can afford them. "I got this drier because I want to add value to my pineapples," says Matovu, who has over five acres of pineapples.
There are several juice producing factories that include Delight Uganda and Cheers, however, they have not positively impacted on the price of pineapples, which has left the farm gate price low. It is not only pineapple dealers who are crying for a processor. Luweero and Kayunga also produce tonnes of other fruits, including mangoes. For instance, in Luweero, Bamunanika county is famous for producing mangoes.
"We have got promises of getting a fruit producing factory in the district," says Ssebugenyi. The latest promise came from some Austrian investors.
According to the Luweero district LC5 chairman, Ronald Ndawula, the district is getting ready to set up a processing plant. He, however, explained that before a processing plant is set up, production should also be enhanced. This explains why for the last two years the district has put emphasis on the growing pineapples.
Ndawula explains that to attract an investor there should be at least 10,000 acres of pineapples in the area, to ensure that there are plenty of raw materials, when processing starts.
Source: allafrica.com
Publication date: 12/17/2008
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