Abstract:
This Industrial Training (IT) was conducted for 10 weeks at National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI) located in the Eastern Agro-ecological zone in Serere District 27 km south of Soroti City from 28th February 2022 to 6th May 2022. NaSARRI is one of the 16 public Agricultural Research Institutes of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) established by the National Agricultural Act 2005.
The objective of this IT is to enable students acquire practical knowledge, skills, monitoring and evaluation in agricultural research and other related activities. It is also to improve on the communication skills.
It was carried out in different sections a rotation i.e., farm management, dry land cereals program, Oil crops program, dry land legumes program and fiber crop program.
During the training at NaSARRI, various activities were carried out which included;
Identification of varieties of different crops, their pests, diseases and control measures, postharvest data collection, grafting and budding in Agroforestry, onion nursery bed preparation in horticulture and plant breeding.
While in the field, I gained skills in identification of pests and diseases of different crops and their control, agronomic practices from site selection to harvesting and post-harvest handling. However, few challenges were faced like; inadequate tools and equipment, adverse weather conditions and long distance from the place of residence to Institute.
The TT was successfully done because most of the theoretical aspects were put into practical thus new skills gained. I suggest that adequate tools be provided, health facilities (sick bay) should be put in place to offer first aid to workers/students in case of any accident or sick.
