Series 2 - Ep 19: Maize, Banana and Vanilla
Series 2 - Ep 19: Maize, Banana and Vanilla
Welcome to Shamba Shape Up Uganda!
This week we’re in Wakiso and we’re visiting farmers Jonah and Hassan, and their father William Buyondo.
This week we’re visiting two brothers, they have both started farming under the guidance of their father, who has land nearby. We want to see how they are doing and whether we can bring any extra help, because farming is the backbone of this country And it’s to our young farmers we turn, to keep it strong.
Jonah and Hassan Buyondo are brothers. They are sons to a fish and tomato farmer called Buyondo William. Their father has always encouraged them to farm no matter how small their land was.
Jonah has 7 acres of land. He focuses on Rice and Maize entirely. He tends to sell the maize to livestock farmers for silage since he finds that he is able to earn more money that way as well as earn the money faster. One of his challenges in this area includes a disease that makes the maize rot from the inside. He is unsure what disease that is. Other challenges include lack of capital to invest buying fertilizers and pesticides. He is also not sure if he has planted the best variety of maize. As for the rice, he is pretty happy with the results, but just as with the maize, he finds it challenging to get a good variety.
Hassan focuses on Bananas and vanilla mostly. He has the two crops intercropped on one acre of land but is planning to expand to his entire 2 ½ acres of land. His vanilla plantation is about 3 years old but he has already faced quite a number of challenges. Top among them is the price fluctuation. Within the last couple of years, he says the price has ranged between 10,000 and 150,000 UGX per kilo. The vanilla also has a disease that is yet to be identified. His banana plantation also suffers from pests and diseases.
Let’s go and learn more:
1. Maize: Managing pest and diseases and Intercropping with beans.
2. Banana: How to manage a Banana plantation.
3. Vanilla: How to grow and manage a vanilla orchid.
intercropping maize Banana beans Vanilla Orchid