Bill Crabtree, an Australian professional farmer has called on his Rwandan fellows to adopt no-till farming practices so as to protect their soil and boost productivity of their various crops.
Bill has been in Rwanda 4 days visit that was characterized by various functions such as meting and sharing his no-tillage knowledge with some senior agriculturalists in the country such us Sina Gerard the owner of Entreprise Urwibutso , The Express News has exclusively learnt.
He also met the Minister of Agriculture and animal resource, Dr. Geraldine Mukeshimana and discussed the importance of smart, modern farming techniques that a no-tillage farming supported by the Gates Foundation and Warren Buffet.
They also discussed the importance of Genetically Modified (GM) crops given that it a safe tool “which is very much need across all of Africa,” as Bill underscored.
While in Rwanda Bill also visited the Howard Buffet extension facility and twitted,
“Saw the foundations of the #HowardGBuffet centre in #Rwanda today. It will be a good tool for knowledge exchange in
Africa i feel.”
Bill, a trained scientist who owns 7,000 acres of arable land in Western Australia at the edge of the Australian Outback, stressed that he is not excited about organic agriculture as the farming techniques presents too many untruths advising that Rwanda and Africa at large needs a good agronomy with smart modern and affordable tools.
“There is a clear need for African farmers to be self-motivated, to understand the importance of residue to cover the soil, the value of no-tillage to soften their soil to stop erosion and to maximise the amount of water that can move into the soil to be ready for plant growth when ripening,” He said
Bill grew up on a farm and performed all farm activities from a young age. “No-Till Bill” began researching no-tillage in 1985, within the State Department of Agriculture, after graduating with B.Ag.Sci. from UWA.
The Express News
