Agricultural scientists have rejected President Museveni’s appeal to restore indigenous seeds and insisted that the hybrid seeds play an unmatched role in increasing crop production and addressing household poverty.
At the weekend, the President criticised the Agriculture Ministry and National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads) over fake imported seeds and said the country has very good local seeds that should be promoted.
“For months now, I have boycotted onions because we no longer have ‘serious onions’. We are losing our original seeds with real flavour like onions, tomatoes, oranges, and others just because some outsiders said we should lose them. They must be restored,” Mr Museveni said.
A number of farmers such as banana growers in western Uganda have also linked the rising burden of pests and diseases to modern varieties that were introduced by scientists from National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro).
However, the scientists say the country cannot afford to look back and what the President defines today as good taste, was the outcome of the past work on the seeds by ancient scientists.
Prof Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, the director of National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday that the hybrids are made with the intention of addressing pests and diseases.
“In the process of developing the hybrid seeds, the taste may change a bit but it is not true that hybrids taste worse than the indigenous varieties,” he said.
“Hybrids are made to resist harsh climatic conditions so they yield better than local varieties, increasing economic return. Many hybrid crops are made here in Uganda such as potatoes, bananas and maize,” he said.
Prof Tushemereirwe said the improved varieties have less acid which makes them more palatable to people with diseases like ulcers, a public health burden in the country.
Prof Ogenga Latigo, an agricultural scientist, said it is misleading to define the majority of crops in the country as indigenous.
“We should accept progress. All those seeds that we claim are indigenous, when did they start being indigenous? Whether you are talking about groundnuts, bananas or rice, they are not indigenous, they came from outside,” he said. Advertisement
“It is science that improved these crops to make them palatable and have the taste we are trying to defend and which taste nobody can define clearly. All those crops, before people started cultivating them, were just like any other grass/herb in the forest,” he said.
Dr Stephen Byantwale, the commissioner of crop protection at the Agriculture ministry, said there is no evidence that hybrid crops are driving the rising burden of pests and diseases.
“Climate change manifestations such as increased temperature is one factor driving the spread of pests and diseases. Climate change affects the population size, survival rate and geographical distribution of pests; and the intensity, development and geographical distribution of diseases,” he said.
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