Annual report of the Agriculture Department for the year ended 31st December 1959

An all-out effort was made to increase the production of export crops. Special attention was paid to improving the quality of coffee and cotton in view of the increasingly competitive state of world markets.3. Poor early rains made the season particularly unfavourable for annual crops and full advantage could not be taken of the plentiful second rains for growing cash crops owing to the urgent need to establish food crops. There was an adequate carry-over of food from 1958 but poor harvests from the early rains plantings caused supplies to be very short in the third quarter. Second rains sowings, however, enabled the position to be restored.4. The 1958/59 cotton crop was the second largest on record largely due to the successful early planting campaign in 1958. Lack of rain delayed sowing in the current season and the planting of over 1½ million acres was a very satisfactory achievement in the circumstances. The second rains favoured the crop but prospects remained below average at the end of the year. The pedigree seed increase schemes continued according to plan and the B.P.52 area was extended to Busoga and West Nile zones. 14,000 acres of cotton were successfully sprayed against pests and all cotton seed for planting- was dressed against blackarm disease.5. Coffee production was again a record, the output of all types exceeding 100,000 tons of clean coffee. For the first time ever the return to the African grower from coffec exceeded that of cotton. Sugar production was also the highest ever as also was the output of made tea. Cocoa planting continued and the area established by African farmers increased to 100 acres. Record crops of fire- and flue-cured tobacco were grownand a pilot scheme was started to raise the quality of fire-cured leaf to export standard: a small quantity of dark leaf was exported.6. Farmers participated to a far greater extent in the processing of their crops and the number of estate coffee factories operated by associations of growers and co-operatives increased to 24. The number of individualfarmers and co-operatives flue-curing tobacco increased to 40.7. The first group of agricultural assistants trained at Bukalasa Farm Institute were appointed to the Department at the end of the year. Arapai Farm Institute had a year of sound development and the building of the first district farm institute was finished.8. The Farm Planning Service was again unable to deal with all the demands of farmers and continued to follow its policy of limited development until more detailed knowledge of the economics of African farming practices is available.9. The field work of the soil and vegetation surveys of the Protectoratewas completed and the first report, that of the Eastern ProvinceSurvey, was compiled and distributed.10. Despite preoccupation with the production drive all departmentalfield staff continued to devote an important part of their time to soil conservationmeasures on both arable and grazing land and to getting the farmersto adopt improved agronomic practices.