NYAGATARE/GATSIBO - Harvest Plus, a global leader in breeding and dissemination of micronutrient-rich staple food crops, has introduced new Iron Bean seed in the country.The new seed will be distributed by Harvest Plus in collaboration with Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB).According to Harvest Plus country representative, Tiwirai Lister Katsvairo, the new bean will help fight and reduce hunger among malnourished residents in the country.“Beans are an important part of the diet for millions of people in Africa. We consider that in Rwanda, 56% of children under the age of 5 years and 33% of non-pregnant women in the country are anaemic…this new bean provides zinc and calcium nutrients to the human body,’ he said.He added that the new seed is being distributed across Nyagatare and Gatsibo in the Eastern Province and other parts of the country.“We distribute the seeds to residents and in return buy their harvest for further distribution. This is not only helping them to grow nutritious staple food, but also boosting their businesses,” he said.Josephine Mukakigeri, an Agriculture Researcher at RAB, stressed the importance of the new seed variety calling on farmers to benefit from the new research.“The new seed is a new hybrid in the bean sector. First of all, it is nutritious, a staple food, grows in the shortest period of time and has good harvest. This is an opportunity that farmers should exploit,” she said. She added that Harvest Plus buys the whole produce from farmers who buy their new seeds.“We sell a kilo of beans at Rwf 500 to farmers and in return buy all their produce at harvest. This is a fixed market that farmers should exploit.”John Rwagasana, a model farmer in Ndama Cell of Karangazi Sector, who worked with the programme in the first phase, said that it has doubled his profits.“They sold to me 250kgs of beans at Rwf 125,000. I harvested 4 tons and sold back to them at a huge profit of Rw 2 million in just a period of three months,” he said.
