Gerald Nangoli, MP for Elgon County, gives farm tips to coffee farmers. PHOTO/Charity
Bulegeni Satellite Station, Buginyanya Sub-county in Bulambuli District was the place to be last Saturday for anyone earning from the soil.
Hundreds of farmers and agricultural experts congregated at the institution in search of new farming skills.
The farmers, and agribusiness students from universities in eastern Uganda, came with all sorts of questions, from livestock production to horticulture, wheat, soy beans, coffee and maize farming.
Lessons
Andrew Kipkemei from Kapchorwa lamented that growing wheat and barley, the known cash crops in Sebei region, is no longer profitable.
Production has declined due to unpredictable weather and nutrient-depleted soils.
Dr Bosco Chemayeki, an agronomist from Bulegeni Satellite Station, advised farmers to embrace crop rotation by rotating wheat, barley or maize with beans or chick peas.
Farmers in Arabica coffee areas especially Elgon North constituency also raised concerns about shortage of quality seeds.
Dr Sauma Nyakahuma and other officials from Uganda Coffee Development Agency (UCDA) advised them use the PDM cash and buy seeds from certified nursery developers.
Livestock
Farmer Nickson Tanyaag asked what it takes to formulate feeds.
Dr Brian Owoyesigire, a livestock expert at Bulegeni Satellite Station, noted that feed formulation has several processes and farmers should make the formulation depending on the stage of the cow.
“If you have poor raw materials, the end product will also be bad. It is advisable to buy feeds in bulk to save costs,” said Dr Owoyesigire.
Farm clinic sponsors
Dr Nasser Kasozi, the director of research for the BugiZardi a Naro zonal agricultural research and development institute said the clinic helped the institute interact with the farmers.
“We are honored to have had a partnership with Nation Media Group to stage a farm clinic in which we have showcased variety of technologies to our end users, who are the farmers,” Dr Kasozi, said, adding that he is hopeful that the yields from crops will improve in the Sub region due to the training.
Bridging gap
Agricultural experts from Naro cited information gap as one of the major barriers hindering farmers from achieving their full potential.
Dr Kasozi, said farm clinics and technology can help bridge the gap, enabling farmers to access knowledge freely.
Dr Owoyesigire, lauded the clinics noting that they have offered farmers access to machinery aimed at making work easier while at the same time helping farmers save on cost while making money.
The experts stressed the importance of farmers turning agriculture into business by embracing technologies and modern methods of farming so as to reap greater benefits.
The main aim of farming should be to ensure that the livelihood of people is improved and this will happen if farming is done as a business.
The Seeds of Gold farm clinic was organised by Nation Media Group in partnership with Bank of Uganda, Stanbic Bank, Jubilee, Allianz and Naro.
Gerald Nangoli, the Elgon County North Member of Parliament applauded Nation Media Group for extending the farm clinic to Bulambuli. “I also call on the farmers to diversify like we have been trained, if your neighbour is undertaking fish farming, let another one do dairy and the other coffee or soya,” Nangoli said.
