Prime
Extension service too vital
Michael Ssali
What you need to know:
- Many will tell you what happened to a crop when certain fertilisers or manures were applied and they know what worked better and what failed.
Farming is a constant struggle by the farmer to overcome weeds, pests, parasites, and soil depletion in order to come up with a business that is competitive, profitable, and sustainable.
It may also be described as the art and science of growing crops and rearing livestock, fish, and insects. Many farmers are also researchers, carrying out various experiments and making some observations right on their farms.
Lots of them will tell you what happened to a crop when certain fertilisers or manures were applied and they know what worked better and what failed. They learn from one another’s failures and successes. They will look at the sky, observe the position of the clouds, and tell whether it will rain or not. They have lived in their home area for a long time, farming, and there is accumulated knowledge that has been gathered by different farmers for generations.
However they need for some expert guidance about many challenges that confront them and slow down production on their farms. For a long time people have taken up farming as an economic activity not because it is their number one priority but because they have no alternative occupation for them. Given our national desire to transform from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country we will need to combine our indigenous knowledge with the available modern technical knowledge acquired through expert scientific research in agricultural institutions, universities, and organisations.
Our farmers will need extra help with regard areas such as seed selection, handling and application of agro-chemicals, water conservation, and mechanisation. We have the personnel that can quickly inculcate this knowledge into the farmers through increased interaction with them in their villages and on their farms.
Farmers seminars organised in their communities and conducted by technical experts in the different fields of agriculture will also go a long way in transforming agriculture. It is not enough for the farmers to get loans from such poverty alleviation programs as Parish Development Model when they don’t know how to apply modern fertilizers or how to use pesticides.
They will need constant guidance. The farmers too must realize that they need extra help in the fight against pests and other challenges. Every farming household should have the phone contact of the area agricultural services extension officer for constant consultation over every technical farming issue.
Mr Michael Ssali is a veteran journalist,
