The decline in crop yield in Jinja has been attributed to poor water management.
Daniel Muwanga, the Jinja farmers chairman says that for the past six months the crop harvest has dropped to 50 percent as a result of drought.
Muwanga says that despite the fact that Jinja is home to River Nile and Lake Victoria the farmers lack skills to harvest water to irrigate their gardens.
Muwanga says that farmers in Jinja lack skills to harvest water to irrigate their gardens.
He says that the most affected farmers are Budongo and Butagaya sub counties which are close to river Nile.
Muwanga accuses government of failing to train farmers on how to irrigate their gardens.
He appeals to government to revisit the farmer's proposal to introduce small scale irrigation.
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Muwanga says that as a result of the low yield the produce prices have skyrocketed in Jinja.
Paul Mufumbiro, the agricultural officer in charge of crop irrigation says that small scale irrigation can help the farmers overcome the declining crop yields as a result of drought.
He says that the farmers have resorted to crude methods to irrigate their crops without much success.
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He says if farmers don't get enough irrigation skills they may turn to other crops that don't need a lot of water which may affect the growth of horticultural crops in Jinja.
