JICA urged to expand crop production

Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has recommended to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to expand the best practices from pilot districts in Horticulture and rice farming through PICROOP, a project for increasing crop production with quality extension services in Eastern Province. The advice was given after reviewing the report on the work covered through the previous phases of the project which has been operational targeting Ngoma and Bugesera districts. JICA report shows that some of the targeted cooperatives raised production from 2 up to 7 tons of rice after learning new farming techniques. Innocent Musabyimana, in charge of Agriculture Extension at RAB, said the body appreciated the cooperation of Japan and their support in the agricultural sector. He also encouraged farmers to emulate techniques applied by Japanese in their future production. Though the production has been increased, there is also need to protect the harvest because a large part is lost in post harvest period, the expert said, urging agricultural cooperatives to own their post harvest equipment so as to decrease damaging the production. According to Matsumoto Kenichi who represented JICA at the meeting with RAB, recommendations from the report should be considered by both Rwandan and Japanese experts to discuss how the project benefits can be maintained and scaled up to benefit more farmers. But Matsumoto noted that the government’s agricultural staff was not enough to reach farmers and cooperatives which had been a hindrance for agriculture development and for cooperatives to emulate new farming techniques. PICROPP project helped farmers to increase their agricultural produce, trained agronomists and farmers on marketing and production techniques, and developed sales plan for targeted cooperatives.