Early rainfall raises hope among farmers in Acholi sub region

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  There is excitement among farmers in Acholi Sub Region as the first rainfall sets in.

Different districts in Acholi Sub Region including Gulu, Omoro, Lamwo, Nwoya and Kitgum have for the past three days started experiencing rainfall.

This has however given hope among farmers with the majority of them opening up their gardens and ready to start planting seeds.   

Bosco Oloya, from Pabbo Town Council Amuru district, says that he had expected that the rain would set in at around mid-March but he is overwhelmed that it has started raining already in his district.

Oloya disclosed that by this week, he has started opening up seven acres of land ready to plant rice.   

George Komagum from Gaya Parish in Amuru says that he has already cleared up two acres of land for this planting season. He expects to plough up to more than five acres of land to plant rice, groundnuts and beans.    

Geoffrey Opiyo, a farmer in Nwoya district also projects to plant ten acres of rice and eight acres of groundnuts during this first season. Both crops require adequate rainfall. 

Parts of the Acholi Sub Region had experienced too much sunshine between December last year to early March this year.

The majority of the farmers had expressed worry over the uncertainties around the weather pattern and they had claimed fears of aridity in the area, something that made them reluctant to open up their gardens or even plant seeds as it had been the case in the previous year.

However, William Bongomin, a farmer teacher with Capable Uganda in Omoro district has urged the farmers to wisely choose the seeds to plant-based on the weather patterns.

He added that it is also prudent for farmers to make use of available weather Applications to monitor forecasts to avoid losses.

The seasonal weather information obtained from the Weather Information and Dissemination System (WIDS), an Application developed by Makerere University and Uganda Meteorological Authority (UNMA) to forecast weather indicate that near-normal rainfall is expected over the Northern and Eastern Northern Regions.

It adds that the region has been experiencing dry conditions with light, isolated rain in a few areas since January 2021.

The onset of the seasonal rains is expected around mid-March Too early April with a peak around mid-April to mid-May. Thereafter, moderate relaxation of rains is expected around mid-June.

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