Industrial attachment report conducted from Busitema University Arapai campus farm on 28th April to 16th May 2022

Abstract

Industrial training is the work experience that is relevant to academic and professional development of a student prior to The graduation where students put into practice what has been theoretically learnt. Industrial training was aimed at exposing the students to actual working environment and enhance their knowledge and skill from what they have learned in the university, equip students with practical and hands-on skills needed in the world of work, enable students interface and get exposure to the dynamics of applying theoretical knowledge to real industrial routine operations, etc. Industrial training was conducted at BUAC farm found in eastern region Arapai sub county Soroti district which was done by visiting different farm sections of both animal and crop departments where field supervisor, guided us on different attachment activities carried out BUAC is a faculty of agriculture and animal sciences located at the former Arapai agricultural college which was built by a colonialist Sir Andrew Cohen in 1956. Recently in 2009, it was upgraded as an independent public university known as BUAC offering academic programs on certificate (C G A), diploma (DAPS and DCP), and bachelor programs (A M, B A B &BSA) Industrial training was carried out alongside routine academic programmes or at the end of first academic year for a period 10 weeks which commenced on 28th April 2022 to 16th May 2022 always beginning at 7:00a.m to 4:00 pm from Monday to Friday of every week of study in which activities like, orientation, cleaning, feeding, weeding, castration, breed and variety identification, spraying animals, treatment of sick animals, budding/ dehorning, equipment identification etc. was carried out during the attachment. During the course of the attachment I gained several skills in production and management, ageing goats, disease investigation, animal treatment and zero grazing management. Professionally, attachment activities carried out gave me knowledge and skills on both animal and crop production and management aspects like treatment and propagation. This will help me in future to choose for the best enterprise that I can manage based on the skills and knowledge I got during industrial training The attachment activities carried out helped me to apply the principle and techniques which I theoretically learnt in class rooms. e.g. castration, crop, varieties, crop pests and diseases, budding/ dehorning, animal diseases and treatment, parasites and their control etc. Inadequate equipment, weather changes, weeds etc. were among the challenges faced. The university farm should get adequate equipment to facilitate learning during the attachment.