Uganda's National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) has handed over 13 improved potato varieties to nine private seed companies for multiplication and distribution to farmers. The handover took place at NARO's Aquatic Research and Development Centre in Kajjansi and marked the first time a vegetatively propagated crop has been released to private sector players.
The initiative forms part of NARO's commercialisation strategy aimed at improving farmer access to certified seed and reducing reliance on imports. Among the new releases are NAROPOT 7 to 10, bred for industrial use and capable of yielding more than 25 tons per hectare. Other released varieties include Uganda 11 (Rutuku), Victoria, KACHPOT 1, and NAROPOT 1 to 6, with NAROPOT 4 (Rwangume) among the best known.
The licensing agreements were signed with FICA Seeds, Kabale Irish Potato Agri-business Limited (KIPAL), Okeba Uganda Limited, Parlex Enterprise Uganda Limited, Tabid Farm Seeds Africa Limited, Ujamma Seed Company Limited, CADCA Seeds Limited, Sterling Seeds Limited, and Syova Seeds (U) Limited.
Dr. Sadik Kassim, Deputy Director General of Technology Promotion at NARO, said the agreements would establish a system ensuring farmer access to certified seed while also generating revenue to support ongoing research. "This is a journey we commenced in 2017 by establishing an Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Unit at NARO headquarters, later signing the first 10 companies in 2021. By last year, we had signed 26 companies in total for different varieties of NARO technologies," Kassim said.
Dr. Yona Baguma, NARO's Director General, emphasised the role of seed in agricultural development. "Seed is the beginning of productivity. Without quality seed, there can be no sustainable transformation," he said. Baguma added that seed companies should also provide farmer training in agronomy, while NARO will continue supporting diagnostic services to safeguard seed quality.
Source: NilePost