BUJUMBURA, December 11th (ABP) – The Director of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (DPEAE) in Bujumbura province (western Burundi) Daniel Mazarahisha officially launched that Tuesday, December 10, 2024, the provincial campaign of fertilization, spraying of coffee fields and planting of new coffee seedlings, an activity which took place at Nyarumpongo village, in Isare commune in the presence of coffee growers and administrators from Isare, Kabezi, Nyabiraba and Mutambu communes, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
A demonstration session was given each time by the Isare communal agronomist, Prosper Ndayiziga, who transplanted a coffee seedling in a field of the Nyarumpongo fundamental school after the hole had been dug, the soil mixed with organic manure, the hole filled with that mixture before planting, and the others followed him by planting the seedlings on the site.
The second phase involved fertilizing and spraying the coffee field, demonstrating that practice. Due to the lack of NPK-type chemical fertilizers not yet distributed, the DPEAE recommended that coffee growers apply organic fertilizers as soon as they are received.
DPEAE Mazarahisha urged coffee growers to plant new coffee seedlings, and to fertilize and spray coffee trees to protect them against the coffee bug. He recalled that before the crisis, the commune of Isare was the first to have coffee fields, urging them to recover that image and use chemical fertilizers and phytosanitary products exclusively for coffee.
The administrator of Isare commune, Gilbert Niyonkuru, who represented the governor, recalled that Isare commune had a lot of coffee, and the place for drying coffee was exceeded by the tonnage during the coffee harvest.
He took the opportunity to call on the people to revitalize coffee cultivation by planting young coffee trees in hill nurseries. He invited them to plant large plantations for those with vast estates, and to plant a few coffee plants around banana fields for those with limited land.