BioCrops: the Living Hope
High Quality BioCrops With High Market Potential
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In vitro banana plantlets
Over 20 million Ugandans depend on Agriculture for food and employment. Eight millions of Ugandans depend on banana (Matoke) production as a source of food, income and employment. Due to lack of certified pest and disease free planting materials, banana production is declining. The impact of pests and diseases can be significantly reduced by the use of certified banana planting materials. Certified In vitro plantlets are disease and pest free, grow faster, and give better yields. Generating and selling in vitro banana plantlets to farmers will increase yields in farmers fields, enhance their food security, increase employment and their incomes. This project will be supported by:
.Availability of explant sources
.Availability of adequately trained local scientists and technicians
.Ever increasing market for in vitro plantlets
By working with well trained local scientists and technicians, using cheap tissue related materials, and working on banana will enhance the pride of Ugandans and increase this project sustainability. Furthermore, working on a crop that most Ugandans love and derive their livelihood will always be motivational.
Facts
2007
| Two years ago: | |
| Last year: | |
| This year: | 8,000 |
| Year 2: | 20,000 |
| Year 3: | 30,000 |
| Two years ago: | |
| Last year: | |
| This year: | 1,000 |
| Year 2: | 6,000 |
| Year 3: | 10,000 |
| Two years ago: | |
| Last year: | |
| This year: | 4 |
| Year 2: | 6 |
| Year 3: | 6 |
How do you expect this to be financed?
| Own Contribution in cash | 2,000 |
| Loans (debt) | 1,500 |
| Shares in your company that you offer to investors (equity) | |
| Other sources | 500 |
| Total Finance needed (US$) | 4,000 |
The Business
The proposed business will produce pests and disease free planting materials of valued crops. Initially the business will produce and market in vitro banana plantlets. After business establishment, planting materials of fruit crops with high export potential will also be produced. These high value fruit crops will be mainly horticultural crops for example passion and citrus fruits. Explants will be collected from farmer’s fields and cultures of banana cultivars with high commercial value will be established. Generated in vitro plantlets will be hardened, and be sold to farmers, NGO and research institutions. Throughout this project awareness of biotechnology products will continue to be made. During marketing of these products, production related information will be given to farmers. The success story will finally be published in local publications and other publications of international level once accepted.
At the moment marketing of in vitro planting materials is easier. The farming population is aware of the numerous benefits of using tissue culture generated plantlets. However, additional awareness will be done in meetings, workshops, trade fairs, and in the media.
I am not worried of potential competitors since such creates better service delivery. I have the best skills, scientific and managerial skills to keep the business profitable in Uganda and East Africa as a region. I have contacts of valuable specialists in this type of business in Uganda and Belgium and I will work with the best persons available. Of great importance, supplying scientifically proven and high quality planting materials will be the most effective competing tool.
The uniqueness about my proposed products is that there are no serious competitors in Uganda. To date, there is only one company producing in vitro planting materials. Due to lack of scientific background, the company is not able to supply and satisfy the demand for such materials. Furthermore I will do virus indexing of all planting materials before they are distributed to farmers. After the business establishment, I will include the multiplication of high value horticultural crops among the business activities and by that I will have entered uninterrupted marketing zone.
The Entrepreneur & Management
Some times I believe that my late mother was the best Agriculturalist of her time and that I went to school to be able explain the science behind what she used to do. We worked together in banana field and I got the most desired and rare training - hands on training.
That experience acquired while working on our banana plantations transformed me into an industrious, profit and practical oriented person. With this motivation, I completed BSc Agric (1997), MSc (Crop production) (1999) and finally a PhD (2005) in plant genetic engineering. I am now involved in banana cell and tissue culture and later genetic engineering. I have skills in generating clean planting materials, making money out of their sales and keeping pure seed. I have wide experience in molecular biology including all skills associated with genetic engineering.
I am a business oriented, time conscious and hands-on scientist who always looks for ways of benefiting poor people. I am highly articulate, well organized, and highly productive under hard conditions. With my training, experience in vegetative seed production, and motivation; this project is a success story. Initially, I will need a small building and at least two air laminar flow cabinets. Cheap tissue culture alternatives will be used to make this business more profitable.
Development
Selling clean planting materials at reduced price will increase food production in farmer’s fields. Increasing yields will increase their incomes and hence improve their health and life styles. Including horticultural crops, mainly for sell or export will tremendously increase incomes of farmers. Using derived incomes, poor people will educate their children, eat better foods, work harder, make better decisions, build better homes and live better lives.
Poverty undermines human dignity
The greatest enemy of man throughout evolutional process of human kind remains poverty. Poverty reduces human pride and undermines human dignity. It reduces the power of human mind to a food search tool. Empowering people to overcome poverty is not only desirable but fundamental. Empowering people with increased incomes is revolutionary, enhances better life styles and eliminates man's oldest enemy, poverty. BID Network’s strategy of giving people power to increase incomes of the poor is a global strategy to eliminate global poverty.