The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Agriculture Emmanuel Ndorimana opened the activities of the workshop to validate the dolomite use sheet in Burundi and the document on the structuring of research and the establishment of a scientific platform to deal with research questions and the establishment of a scientific platform to deal with research questions and the valorization of results on integrated soil fertility management in Burundi in Gitega on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.
The objective of the workshop was to analyze the 2 documents, in order to improve them in order to formulate richer guidelines and observations on the use of dolomite and the structuring of research in the field of soil fertilization.

Emmanuel Ndorimana recalled that Burundian agriculture is the engine of the national economy and the guarantor of food security. This is why the country is committed to the development of productive agriculture despite various challenges encountered.

According to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Agriculture, the analysis of these agricultural challenges shows that, in addition to the use of more efficient seeds and fertilizers, there is a need to improve the productivity of farms using dolomite and coordinated research in order to effectively meet the objective of the responsible and painstaking Government to increase production so that every mouth has food and every pocket has money.

He explained that to achieve this, the Government, through the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, has taken the initiative to first promote the large-scale use of dolomite to correct the acidity that affects more than 30% of cultivated land. For him, most farmers do not use dolomite or do not know how to apply it well in order to improve the productivity of their farms. But also, the technical services do not have up-to-date extension documents, continued the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Agriculture.

In the field of integrated soil fertility management through research, a multiplicity of actors was observed, including universities, IFDC, IRRI, IITA, FAO and the FOMI factory that produces and experiments with fertilizers. “The driving role of ISABU as a guarantor of research has been increasingly diluted”, noted Emmanuel Ndorimana.

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Agriculture regretted that there was no solid synergy between research institutions in the area of integrated soil fertility management, while the latter should normally collaborate to optimize research and technology transfer in rural areas, while comparing research and farmers' know-how.
Following this situation, Emmanuel Ndorimana indicated that the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock is seeking to create a scientific platform that will be responsible for coordinating and managing all the research of institutions involved in research on soil fertilization.

To do this, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry in charge of Agriculture announced that this ministry has set up a team in charge of the development of a document on the structuring and functioning of this scientific platform which will deal with questions of research and valorization of results in the field of integrated fertilization management.