Aflatoxin Problem Becomes History in Uganda’s Agricultural and Trading Sectors-NARO
Reporter Kizindo Lule
Wakiso-Uganda
Senior Researchers and Scientists of Agriculture at the National Agricultural Research Organization NARO) have finally come up with a solution to Aflatoxin, a slow poison that has been affecting the quality of some crops like Maize, Sorghum,Millet, Ground nuts,Cassava,animal feeds and a few others under moist storage.
“We can no longer lose our crops’ quality where science gives us the ability to prevent it”, says Dr Moses Matovu,the Senior Research Officer at the Facility.
Dr. Moses Matovu further said.. that this poison so called Aflatoxin can now be counter-attacked by a Laboratory product named Aflasafe.
Aflasafe is not directly applied on the Crop Product after harvesting like anyone would think,it’s applied in the field during the crop growing period.
He says,Aflasafe is applied on the soil where the crop grows from so that it does not grow with the germ that bears the deadly poison known to be Aflatoxin.
Developed and made from a special Laboratory with help the of an “Evidence Investigator Machine”,Aflasafe is coated on defunct cereal seeds for purposes of making it easy to be applied in the gardens.
The de-function of the cereal seeds used is intended in not allowing them germinate,for they would compete with the intended crop. For the start,Aflasafe is being coated on Sorghum as it slowly starts to enter the Ugandan Market.
“Incase Aflasafe has been applied in a maize Garden,all Maize that will be harvested from it within that gestation period will be safe and free from this germ Aflatoxin.
Information available indicate that 1.3 million people in Uganda surfer from food-born illnesses and the country spends 144 million US Dollars annually in control and treatment of these food born illnesses. These are said to be more dangerous to children under five years,breastfeeding and pregnant mothers, and people with compromised immunity.
The Ugandan business fraternity, a couple of years back incurred enormous losses when tones of maize and maize flour from Uganda were blocked from accessing markets of some East African countries due this so-called poison Aflatoxin which the Media had reported to be among the causes of different types of cancers and other deaths.
Dr Matovu says,it’s against this background that, the Ugandan Government decided to invest in NARO Researchers in order to come up with a preventive measure to this Aflatoxin problem that had scared,Farmers,Grain Traders and Consumers of most Ugandan Cereal Crops.
