By Irene Best Nyapendi
On January 24, farmers around Mukono went to the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus with samples of their crops that were affected by pests and diseases. On any other day, these farmers would not have been welcomed with these damaged crops. However, on this Wednesday, in a collaborative exercise,  UCU’s students of agriculture examined diseased crops to establish the different diseases while also offering some tried-and-tested solutions to the farmers. 

This field day exercise, organized by UCU’s Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, offered a platform where students taught farmers about good management practices at their different demo plots. The plots had crops such as Nakati (solanum Aethiopioum), collard greens, squash, sorghum grass, corn, grain amaranth, spinach and bulb onions. 

The Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Dr. Rosemary Bulyaba, explained that for UCU, working with farmers is more than simply an event; it’s a corporate social obligation.

She noted that farmers are important for the livelihood of UCU because the university depends on the food crops they cultivate. 

“If you ate today, it means a farmer grew crops, so farmers are so important to us,” Bulyaba said, noting that agriculture is a practical field, and that students cannot learn everything in class. In the field, they identify emerging diseases and real-life challenges, and come up with solutions.

Last year, third year students of Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship participated in outreach activities in the gardens set up at the university’s demonstration plot. At the outreach, 30 farmers from Bugujju turned up for the event that provided a platform for the exchange of ideas between the students and the farmers. 

At UCU, agriculture students are trained to be certified plant doctors so that they can identify what’s wrong with plants by simply looking at them.

One of the highlights of the January 24 field day was the plant clinic, where UCU agriculture students diagnosed diseased crops and made recommendations to the farmers, drawing from classroom knowledge. 

Charity Rojo, a fourth-year student of Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship (BASE), is one of the people who examined samples of sick plants brought in for diagnosis.

“For fungal diseases, we looked for leaf spots with concentric rings, and for bacterial diseases, we looked for wet spots,” Rojo explained.

For pests, she said they looked for holes in the leaves, and that if the stem was affected, they looked for boring on the stem. 

According to Rojo, fungal diseases are the most common because they can easily be spread by rain and wind, for example, maize smut which is transported by wind from one maize cob to another.

She advised farmers to maintain good field hygiene and only get seeds for planting from recommended suppliers. 

Joseph Odongo, a farmer from Kazinga village in Mukono district., said he learned about the option for organic spray for onions, instead of chemicals.

“The students taught me how to make a spray for my onions by mixing ash, red pepper, onions and garlic, and allowing it to ferment,” Odongo explained.

Filda Acan, a small-scale farmer, was happy to discover zucchini, something she said she can grow in her compound. “Today, I saw plants I had never seen in the market. I was excited to learn about zucchini, and I’m, surely, going back to plant it.”

Kefa Othieno, a third-year student of Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship, explained that he was able to get practical experience by interacting with the farmers.

“Today, I’ve been able to apply the knowledge I learned in the classroom to a real-world setting,” Othieno said. 

The students from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences in the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences also encouraged fellow students and farmers to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Kelly Senoga, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, emphasized that physical size alone doesn’t determine one’s state of health, explaining that both underweight and overweight individuals can face health challenges.

Senoga explained to the students and the farmers that being overweight can lead to obesity, with associated health risks, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer. 

The students studying Bachelor of Science in Food Science and Technology also presented to the farmers value-added agricultural products, such as bread made from pumpkin. The bread contains 10% pumpkin and is high in vitamins A and C.