Series 2 - Ep 3: Soil testing, Maize varieties, Banana and Bee keeping
Series 2 - Ep 3: Soil testing, Maize varieties, Banana and Bee keeping
Welcome to Shamba Shape Up Uganda!
Today we’re in Bufuula village, Budondo Sub-County, Jinja City and we visiting farmer Stella Namugaya.
Stella grew up in farming family. Her mother and grandmother were farmers. She’s married to and has 4 children. In 2007 resigned from her job when she was only 35 years to focus on farming full time. She refers to her farm as her office and takes it very seriously.
On her farm 4.5 acres she’s got, maize, sweet potatoes, bananas, coffee, passion fruits, mangoes, eggplant and Sukuma wiki.
Her intention is to intercrop her bananas with pumpkins. She has FAW on some of her maize. She plants the local maize variety. Stella does not believe in wasting money (wasting millions) on having her soil been tested.
According to her this soil had provided food for her grandmother and mother and would do so for many more generations to come.
She has intercropped her banana and coffee in one hole to maximize efficiency. Her justification is that it reduces the expense of hole-digging, fertilizer, and irrigation.
She has two cows, One produces 25 litres, The Second produces 15 to 17 litres per day, Her challenges include: climate change and process of feed. She has a water hole that is over 10 feet deep but has no irrigation technology.
This week we learn about:
1. Improving soil fertility by soil testing
2. Improving your yields using certified seeds
3. Banana management and boosting productivity
4. Importance of bees to the environment.
Banana soiltesting Bee Keeping maize