The Ministry of Agriculture (Minagri) is facilitating interested farmers to adopt greenhouse farming to improve the year-round production of flowers and vegetables.

Agriculture Minister, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, said yesterday that she plans to meet interested parties before the end of this month to see how they can support them with better coordination and service delivery.

"It needs lots of commitment from the farmer. What we do is facilitate interested people in the private sector by giving them tax breaks on green house material,” Kalibata said, acknowledging that the technology is "not cheap.”
"We are also working on strengthening our capacity to deal with extension for greenhouse farmers.”

A greenhouse (or glasshouse) is a building that protects crops from extreme temperature, dust storms, and keeps out pests. Its light and temperature control allows greenhouses to improve food production in marginal environments.

Kalibata says greenhouse farming will ensure consistency of growing conditions, reduce pests and improve yield predictability.

Greenhouses allow certain crops [flowers, vegetables, fruits, and tobacco] to be grown throughout the year, and are increasingly becoming important in the food supply.

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