By Joseph Mugenyi
Many farmers do not know that crop growth needs managements and that if crops are not managed during their growth, in most cases they do not give the expected yield.
But Crop growth management is very vital because if you manage your crops you will be able to know when to spray, when to weed, which type of fertilizers they need, among other things.
For instance, during plant growth, the following combination is recommended when spraying;
Add all the following into the pressure pump and stir the mixture well.
1. Fungicide (either preventive or curative)- these control fungal infections.
2. Insecticide – these control insects.
3.Fertilisers/ plant growth regulators- these boost plant growth.
Don’t mix different brands but in the same category e.g. using Fangocil and Harvester yet they are both fungicides.
It should be noted that some agrochemical dealers have focused much on making money than giving a farmer the relevant dosage.
They will sell different brands of one category to a farmer which isn’t good to both the farmer and the plant, since they may increase the mixture’s level of toxicity, thereby destroying the plant.
Always inform an agro dealer which stage your crops are for proper dosage. Some different pesticides are used at different stages of plant growth; e.g. an insecticide called Fenos is very good to young plants but affects crops at the flowering level. So be careful while buying agrochemicals to use.
Curly Leaves In Plants
During this rainy season, most farmers are complaining because of folding/ curling of leaves of most crops. Folding is caused by pests like aphids, mites, trips, and whiteflies that extract juice from leaves causing them to fold. Fungi can also cause folding in leaves.
Key Points To Note
*Folding reduces the surface area of a leaf that has to be exposed to sunlight which helps in photosynthesis.
*After folding leaves develop spots, turn yellowish and eventually drop off.
The only solution is using fungicides like Fangocil, Harvester, Ridomil, Kingmil, Victory, Master etc and the farmer also needs to add an insecticide like Dudu Acelemectin, Dudu Fenos, Alpha, Imi, etc.
It’s better to also apply preventive fungicides ( e.g Fangocil) for prevention in case the crop is not yet infected.
To prove there are tiny insects, check under the leaf, you will see tiny small moving insects. This implies that during spraying the pressure pump used to spray should be positioned to spray under the leaf.
Mugenyi Joseph (MJ Farmer) is a practising Agribusiness entrepreneur based in Kibiito and a software engineering student at Makerere University. He can be reached on 0701-443309, Email: mugenyijosemj@gmail.com
