Technologies for intensification in SW Uganda ... - Foodnet - cgiar

homestead are feasible and these technologies can be well integrated with the ones
mentioned below.
• Improved fallows with suitable shrubs are being researched on-farms and preliminary
results show attractive technical and economic response. This technology fits well on
exhausted land, such as the upper parts of bench terraces. Continued adaptive research,
particularly on the labour aspect and gradual promotion of this technology is warranted.
• On more degraded sites, rotational woodlots with suitable trees are an option under onfarm
research. On degraded sites, the opportunity costs are low. About 10% of the cropped
land is considered by farmer to be degraded to an extent that cropping is no longer an
option. These degraded hilltops and slopes are suitable for the rotational woodlots.
• Instead of attempting to rehabilitate the degraded land, alternative land-uses such as
woodlots for timber, medicine and others could be considered. Even fruit trees seem to
produce on degraded land as long as a large planting hole is dug and filled with a good soil
mixture (manure).
• Inorganic inputs (fertilizer) are important inputs to supplement the above organic
measures. Phosphorus and potassium can often not be supplied in sufficient quantities
through organic inputs. With high input costs and low farmgate prices for most
commodities the use of fertilizer is only economical on higher-value crops.
• Although rainfall is fairly high and evaporation relatively low, irrigation is considered
important by farmers and local leaders to ‘insure’ other inputs against the vagaries of
weather. Manual pumps and water harvesting are proposed as smaller scale interventions.
Feasibility of additional gravity irrigation schemes requires further investigations.
Wetlands have been used for considerable time for horticulture based on (residual) soil
moisture. Not all wetlands are suitable, because of flooding, low pH and others while
others have a high conservation potential or provide highly important hydrological
services. There is need for rational evaluation and demarcation of wetlands suitable for
horticulture and those that should be under conservation.
Overall, there are some key areas requiring consideration and support to improve the management
of agricultural resources:
• Landscape level interventions, such as watershed management should support and
make use of decentralization. Information exchange through exchange tours, introducing
simple, participatory planning tools are key activities.
• Nurseries are required for most tree-based innovations. A key concern here is that the
ideal management of these nurseries depends on the trees to be produced. While some,
like many of the shrubs used for contour hedgerows, fodder and improved fallows can be
raised in a similar manner as vegetables in small beds on the farms; others such as fruit
trees or difficult to propagate high-value tree species may need specialized nurseries
including some quality-control mechanisms.
Further, none of these nurseries require free handouts, despite seed. The average farm has all
inputs and tools for a small, simple shrub / tree nursery and a commercial nursery may require
credit but no handouts. Diversity of the trees raised based on the seed available, as well as the
quality of the seed and planting materials are key concerns.
• Seed multiplication is therefore an issue that –like nurseries- requires diverse
approaches. Again, some seed is simple to multiply and emphasis should be on training,
70