Makerere University College of Agricultural And Environmental Sciences has embraced the move to advance cowpea growth development through training, knowledge generation and service delivery in Uganda.

The college has embarked on a five year project to develop high-yielding and pest-resistant Cowpea varieties for Ugandan conditions.

Through increased production of the quality and quantity of cowpea, there has been an increase in profits made from cowpea sales. “Through Serere research station, an increase in participation and training of students on better methods of cowpea growth has led to an income boost in cowpea production”, said Dr Jenifer Bisikwa, Principal investigator Department of Agricultural production.

“The project was founded with the goal to increase cowpea nutrition and production, by poor farmers in Uganda through participatory development of improved high yielding, pest and disease resistant cowpea varieties”, added Prof. Samuel Kyamanywa, the Principal for the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.

This Project has also strengthened the capacity for research and training in Uganda and so far three students at Masters and PhD levels have graduated under it. . This has enhanced PhD extension development through the college strategies to design, strengthen, develop highly trained staff and promote advocacy.

The project has identified five promising cowpea varieties that are preferred by farming communities in Eastern and Northern Uganda. The promising varieties that have been assembled and tested for Ugandan conditions are ACCWC28, ACCWC35B, ACCWC35, ACCWC39 and ACCNE44 but more work is being done to establish their resistance to major pests and diseases before they can be disseminated back to the farmers for adoption.

Compared to other grain legumes and vegetable crops, cowpea possesses multiple advantages for farmers including high yields on poor sandy soils unsuitable for other crops, high rate of nitrogen fixation, lower fertilizer requirement, drought resistant and high temperature tolerance.

Whereas preliminary research on cowpea in Uganda was initiated in the 1990s, there is currently no active national programme dedicated to this valuable crop due to lack of funding. Thus, low national research priority in Cowpea makes it one of the orphan crops. Due to crop pests and diseases, poor cowpea varieties farming methods, and market access, farmers’ yields have been below 500kg per hectare, though cowpea yields have potential of about 1500 to 3000 kg per hectare in Uganda.

Article by Nakandi Peninah, Intern, Public Relations Office, Makerere University 

Makerere University College of Agricultural And Environmental Sciences has embraced the move to advance cowpea growth development through training, knowledge generation and service delivery in Uganda.

The college has embarked on a five year project to develop high-yielding and pest-resistant Cowpea varieties for Ugandan conditions.

Through increased production of the quality and quantity of cowpea, there has been an increase in profits made from cowpea sales. “Through Serere research station, an increase in participation and training of students on better methods of cowpea growth has led to an income boost in cowpea production”, said Dr Jenifer Bisikwa, Principal investigator Department of Agricultural production.

“The project was founded with the goal to increase cowpea nutrition and production, by poor farmers in Uganda through participatory development of improved high yielding, pest and disease resistant cowpea varieties”, added Prof. Samuel Kyamanywa, the Principal for the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.

This Project has also strengthened the capacity for research and training in Uganda and so far three students at Masters and PhD levels have graduated under it. . This has enhanced PhD extension development through the college strategies to design, strengthen, develop highly trained staff and promote advocacy.

The project has identified five promising cowpea varieties that are preferred by farming communities in Eastern and Northern Uganda. The promising varieties that have been assembled and tested for Ugandan conditions are ACCWC28, ACCWC35B, ACCWC35, ACCWC39 and ACCNE44 but more work is being done to establish their resistance to major pests and diseases before they can be disseminated back to the farmers for adoption.

Compared to other grain legumes and vegetable crops, cowpea possesses multiple advantages for farmers including high yields on poor sandy soils unsuitable for other crops, high rate of nitrogen fixation, lower fertilizer requirement, drought resistant and high temperature tolerance.

Whereas preliminary research on cowpea in Uganda was initiated in the 1990s, there is currently no active national programme dedicated to this valuable crop due to lack of funding. Thus, low national research priority in Cowpea makes it one of the orphan crops. Due to crop pests and diseases, poor cowpea varieties farming methods, and market access, farmers’ yields have been below 500kg per hectare, though cowpea yields have potential of about 1500 to 3000 kg per hectare in Uganda.

Article by Nakandi Peninah, Intern, Public Relations Office, Makerere University