{"id":2000123062,"date":"2026-08-19T17:10:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000123062"},"modified":"2026-08-19T17:27:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:27:27","slug":"rwanda-eyes-machinery-boost-to-expand-conservation-agriculture-in-2027a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-eyes-machinery-boost-to-expand-conservation-agriculture-in-2027a\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda eyes machinery boost to expand conservation agriculture in 2027A"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) said it is working with partners to identify machines that can enable farmers and agricultural service providers to adopt the practice on a larger scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 765,000 hectares planned for cultivation nationwide during the 2027A season, about 100,000 hectares are expected to be cultivated using soil-conserving methods, which the government considers an important way of improving productivity while protecting farmland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approach involves making small planting holes, applying manure or fertiliser and planting crops such as maize or beans without extensively turning over the soil. Farmers then cover the field with mulch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The method helps retain moisture in the soil when it rains, allowing crops to access water for longer periods and potentially improving yields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the lack of suitable machinery has emerged as one of the challenges to expanding the practice, particularly among farmers cultivating large areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RAB Acting Director General Dr. Florence Uwamahoro said the institution was working with various partners to find machinery that could be used by agricultural service providers across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are working with different partners to obtain machinery used in soil-conserving agriculture. There are places such as RICA and others where some of these machines are already available, but we want all people providing mechanised farming services to have machines that can be used on large areas,\u201d Dr. Uwamahoro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her comments came on Tuesday during an expanded meeting on preparations for the 2027A agricultural season and measures to strengthen food security in Rwanda\u2019s Eastern Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government plans to place greater emphasis on soil-conserving agriculture during the coming season, alongside the expansion of farming under the selected high-productivity areas known as Food Basket Sites (FOBASI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities expect agricultural output from the FOBASI areas to double compared with previous production levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 246,000 hectares are expected to be cultivated under the FOBASI programme during the 2027A season, with around 100,000 hectares receiving particular attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another 100,000 hectares will specifically be dedicated to soil-conserving agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOBASI is a government programme designed to promote areas with high agricultural production potential. Farmers operating in the selected areas receive technical and financial support, early access to agricultural inputs and other assistance intended to improve productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme is implemented on relatively small plots of about five hectares, managed by small groups of farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Mulching helps protect the soil, retain moisture and create better conditions for crops to grow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Agricultural machinery is used to support farm operations and improve efficiency on cultivated land.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rwanda is seeking specialised farm machinery to support the expansion of soil-conserving agriculture as the country prepares to cultivate more than 765,000 hectares during the 2027A agricultural season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000123065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000123062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-37","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000123065,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/rab_ivuga_ko_yatangiye_gushakisha_imashini_zibasha_guter.jpg","alt":"","caption":"Agricultural machinery is used to support farm operations and improve efficiency on cultivated land.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":800,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/rab_ivuga_ko_yatangiye_gushakisha_imashini_zibasha_guter.jpg","width":1000,"height":800},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/rab_ivuga_ko_yatangiye_gushakisha_imashini_zibasha_guter.jpg","width":1000,"height":800},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/rab_ivuga_ko_yatangiye_gushakisha_imashini_zibasha_guter.jpg","width":1000,"height":800},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/rab_ivuga_ko_yatangiye_gushakisha_imashini_zibasha_guter.jpg","width":1000,"height":800},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/rab_ivuga_ko_yatangiye_gushakisha_imashini_zibasha_guter.jpg","width":1000,"height":800}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000123062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000123066,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123062\/revisions\/2000123066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000123065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000123062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000123062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000123062"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000123062"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000123062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}