Bugesera: Watermelon Farmers are suffering loss after the crop failed their soil

 

Watermelon farmers in Bugesera District in the Eastern Province of Rwanda have suffered a loss after the seeds they planted were unproductive yet they had already lost a lot and asked the government to rescue them from the encountered loss.

This is stated after they planted this fruit in September 2020 and unfortunately they were not able to harvest as they expected.

Farmers who spoke to the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency said they had invested heavily in the cultivation of Watermelon fruit but were at a huge disadvantage because of lack of produce.

One of them said: “We planted watermelon hoping that we are going to harvest, in vain we had nothing.”

Imagine renting a parcel for about one hundred thousand francs (100,000Frw) and put the whole efforts and harvest nothing!”

 “The seeds are being planted but as we progress the fruits rot and turn yellow and the others will” Explain farmers.

“We want you to advocate for us because the planted fruits are failing us, which is what we were not hoping for.”

The villagers say they have invested so much that some have even taken bank loans that they are worried how they will repay them yet their crops have already failed them.

Officials suspect that they may not have been properly monitored when they reach the community, “we will show it to the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) to find solution.” Jean Claude said

The RAB administration said THIS is the first to hear the matter and was going to investigate it to find out why watermelon are not yielding the expected produce in the area.

Watermelon is an edible fruit made up of 92% water and 6% sugar.

Many people like to eat these fruits in the summer because they are cold.

Watermelon contains Vitamins A, C, B6 and B1. It also contains high levels of potassium, magnesium, carotenoids and lycopene.

This fruit also has other benefits for human health, such as fighting heart disease, protecting the body from moisture, relieving constipation, making skin and hair more permanent and so on.

Watermelon is widely traded in Rwanda from Uganda, and some from Bugesera and Nyanza districts.