{"id":4355,"date":"2019-08-05T10:42:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T07:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=4355"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:27","slug":"water-saving-potassium-crystal-heralds-hope-for-ugandan-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/08\/05\/water-saving-potassium-crystal-heralds-hope-for-ugandan-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Water-saving Potassium Crystal Heralds Hope for Ugandan Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By HALIMA ABDALLAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will a white\ncrystal solve Uganda\u2019s water for agriculture challenges? This is an emerging\nquestion following a recent display of this technology during the annual\nNational Agricultural show at Jinja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual show\nthemed: Agricultural technologies and innovations for farmer-led\nagro-industrialisation<\/em>, showcased technologies ranging from seeds, forage,\nmechanisation inputs, water retention technologies, value addition and even\naccess to credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEW TECHNOLOGY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That most crop\nexhibitors employ mulching as a water retention method was clear, but the use\nof super absorbent polymer was new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have not\nheard about that technology, but before we can use it, we need to gauge its\nviability against existing technologies like mulching and irrigation,\u201d said\nMaena Borniface, a Kenyan agronomist at Simlaw Seeds (U) Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur technology\nis still new in the market, but it is a good technology that is easy to use and\ncheaper. It has been around for about a year now,\u201d said a Prismafoods Ltd\nstaffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information\nfrom Prismafoods, shows that the technology increases the water holding\ncapacity of soils for two years. It also reduces water loss and irrigation\nfrequency by 70 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides that,\nPrismafoods said using polymer improves soil aeration, accelerates plant growth\ndue to the guaranteed availability of water while protecting the environment\nagainst drought and ground water pollution caused by leaching of fertilizer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have started\nto use the product to try as much as possible to conserve soil water,\u201d said\nPeter Kisambira, from Uganda Farmer Federation and show manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This substance\nis made from potassium polyacrylate (potassium-based super absorbent polymer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prismafoods\nstaff demonstrated how the substance is used, where a kilogramme of the\ngranules is mixed into 100 litres water. It will rise and became buried in\nsub-surface around the plant roots. Manure or fertiliser or pesticides can be\nadded before covering with soil. The substance is also non-toxic according to\nPrismafoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen applied\nto the roots, it allows you to save from 65-95 per cent of water used. Its\napplication is simple yet effective,\u201d says Prismafoods website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDRESS WATER\nPROBLEMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology\nis one of the innovations intended to address the problems of water for\nproduction in agriculture in the face of adverse weather conditions. It is\neffective in dry conditions and semi-deserts as it allows a farmer to use just\na little water per day. This saves costs on irrigation systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI buy one kilogram\nof polymer at $17 to apply on a four-acre parcel of land, which is\ncost-effective,\u201d Kisambira said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To farmers like\nhim, it could just be a perfect solution to low access to water for production\nduring prolonged dry seasons. Uganda\u2019s agriculture is largely rain-fed.\nIrrigation is practiced in the few areas although the government plans to open\nup 15 major irrigation schemes this financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While climate\nchange and the impacts of human activity on the ecosystems remain a major\nconcern for Uganda\u2019s water sources, poor access to water for production and\ndomestic use is blamed on low investment in the sector. This is because the\ncountry has few water bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nmedium-term, government plans to increase provision of water for production\nthrough development of multipurpose bulk water storage and supply systems. Read\nthe original\narticle<\/a> on The East African<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By HALIMA ABDALLAH Will a white crystal solve Uganda\u2019s water for agriculture challenges? This is an emerging question following a recent display of this technology during the annual National Agricultural…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}