A sorghum plantation. (File photo: Courtesy).

An official in Upper Nile State said the government will support farmers by providing fuel and pesticide subsidies in the coming rainy season.

The State Minister of Finance Pal Deng says the government will lease out cheap fuel for tractors and other agricultural chemicals to the farmers in the coming rainy season.

Deng disclosed the government initiative after the farmers in Renk County complained of crop pests and the absence of crucial farming inputs.

“We have decided to provide support because the country and the state depend on agriculture in this county, and we are obliged to save time, and this is the only thing we can do,” said Deng.

“The state is committed to providing fuel to farmers this season, and this is one of the problems, which is the provision of fuel as well as agricultural pests.”

In May 2022, the local farmers appealed to the government and international organizations to help input agriculture and provide control over locusts that have invaded their farms.

But the state finance minister said the support will increase crop production – after a series of frustrating harvests in the last seasons.

On his part, the chairperson of Renk Farmers Union called on national and foreign investors to contribute to agriculture by utilizing two and half million acres of land intended for cultivation.

Kur Dau said agriculture is the only solution to get the country out of poverty.

“The only way out for this country to get out of the state of hunger is to turn to agriculture. If we cultivate large areas, we will have abundant production and we can export a quantity of it and use the remaining for local consumption,” he said.

“Renk City was already known as the second city for agricultural production after Gedaref There are two million five hundred acres of land ready for cultivation in the county.”

During a visit to his farms in Luri Payam last year, President Salva Kiir called on subsistent farmers to engage in agricultural activities to improve their livelihoods.