A-z of watermelon growing by Abet

 

By  Abet Tonny

Tony's A to Z of growing watermelon (reviewed on April 10, 2023)

I am a melon farmer based in Uganda, East Africa. I am going to share with you my lived experience of growing watermelon, in 5 minutes!

Watermelon is one of the sweetest fruits in the same family as pumpkins and cucumber. They are very vigorous growing plants that mature from 65 days to 90 days depending on the variety. In Uganda, the fruits from hybrid seeds range from 7 to 14 kgs.

Guinness World Records says the world's heaviest watermelon was grown by Lloyd Bright of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, in 2005. It weighed 268.8 lbs. (122 kg), according to Jessie Szalay

Every time people come to me showing interest to grow watermelon, they are all thinking about finding a suitable swampy area to launch the life-changing production. But I tell you, reader, just because watermelon has great water content does not mean it grows in water the plant does not grow in water-logged areas. For watermelon originated from South Africa's Kalahari desert.

Well, the soil requirement for watermelon is simply sandy loam with good drainage. Swamps and water-logged areas do not favor melon growth.

Watermelon does well even under rain-fed farming. If you receive heavy downpours at least once a week, you can be sure to get some good harvest, too! However, during the fruiting season, the water requirement for the plant goes up. Having irrigation pumps will greatly help in this situation in case of areas with very scanty rainfall. The Solar water irrigation pumps are cheaply available with SolarNow (Check out). Though a little risky, in normal rainy seasons, relying on rainfall will still work for watermelon production.

Let us talk about Varieties.
There are several varieties of watermelon in Uganda produced by different seed companies but as a farmer, I recommend Sukari F1 from East African Seeds, the best with a higher yield per acre and relatively better disease resistance!
Sukari F1 can yield as high as 30 tons of melon per acre. Others are Jubaili seeds, and Jaz F1, among others. They can be found in most agro-input shops across the country at varying sizes and prices -from around Shs50,000 for seeds in small tins to over Shs300,000 for seeds in big tins. 

Before I forget, you should always go for hybrid seeds, they are a little expensive to buy but will generate a great smile on your face during harvest as the yields are 5 to 10 times higher.

And now, the real process of production

Land clearing
In case you have trees in the garden, cut them down. Watermelons need direct sunlight for some good hours daily, meaning they will not grow well under shade. Last year, I lost a lot of money for refusing to cut down trees in the garden, you can avoid my mistake. The next thing is to clear the bushes.

Plowing
Successful land clearing will ease this step, the purpose here is to loosen up the soil for better drainage. This can be done using tractors, ox-plow, or even the usual hand hoes.

Making raised beds
The raised beds keep heat which watermelon craves to grow well. It also eases the protection of vines as you spray, and easy harvesting. For those using irrigation, it is good to make the raised beds flat atop. The beds should be 1.5 to 2 meters wide leaving a pathway.
The spacing between rows should be 2m and between plants should be 1m

Planting
You can add DAP fertilizer in the hole 15cm (about the length of a mathematical set ruler) deep and 15cm wide then cover with soil before planting. Place 1 or 2 seeds on the surface of each hole at different points, then push them with your finger at 1.5 cm depth. Then cover with a little soil. If you sow the seedlings very deep, they might not germinate.

Management
Farming is just like any other job or business. Absenting yourself for more than 2 weeks may amount to a big loss. Watermelon requires a lot of care, it is susceptible to several pests and disease attacks. You always need to monitor your garden at least once a week. Even the workers you employ can get jealous, they understand the value of what they are working in (they know watermelon brings a lot of money), and perhaps your payment to them per month or labor session is very low or unsatisfying as it happens in any natural world. With your serial absenteeism, these casual workers on the farm can or may harm your plants with high doses of pesticides or fertilizers that may burn the plants (investment). They can even plot to steal the fruits so your periodic visits and presence in the farm can break a number of those bad intentions.

In management, be sure to do the following; mulching, watering, weeding, spraying, insecticide application, fertilizer application, and placement of traps for fruit flies.



Harvest and Marketing
Watermelons normally start flowering at 6 weeks and by the 10th week, you can start harvesting your fruits. Harvest only mature fruits, you can tell if it's mature if it changes color at the bottom by becoming creamy white and if it produces a bam sound when hit in the sides. Harvest the fruit with its stalk to extend its shelf life. There are always ready markets for watermelon especially for Kenya market suppliers for Ugandan farmers. There are also great local markets for the melon in urban areas, however, be keen not to sell on credit. Selling from the farm is the most convenient but you get more money when you reach your urban markets.

 In an acre, over 4000 fruits can be produced. The farm prices in Uganda for watermelon (good size) swing around 3,000/= and this translates to (4000X3000) = 12,000,000. Twelve million Uganda shillings can be got from an acre of well-managed watermelon garden.


The writer is an experienced farmer, writer, and representative of YPARD

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Uganda's Nalubale Dawa Covid vaccine research underway -Museveni

Museveni takes a Covid jab

By Tonny Abet

President Museveni has said Ugandan scientists are developing Nalubale Dawa (ND) Covid-19 vaccine as a local innovation to increase fight against the pandemic.

"The vaccines are getting more available globally, however, we are working hard on our own vaccine which we shall call Nalubale Dawa. I thought about (using the name) Kiira Dawa but because the car people had taken the Kiira (name), I think we should leave Kiira to them and maintain Nalubale (Dawa)," he said.

He said this today night during his address to the nation on Covid-19 and security.

The President had earlier last year said Ugandan scientists would get the Covid-19 cure or vaccine earlier than developed countries.

Since the outbreak last year, the coronavirus has infected about twelve hundred thousand people and killed over 3000 people in the country.

In his address, the President said Uganda is banking on Covid-19 vaccination to fully reopen schools and economy in January next year. He said the government will reopen the economy whether people are vaccinated or not.

Over 6 million out of 15.5 million doses of the vaccines acquired by government through donations and direct procurement have been administered.

 The government is racing to vaccinate at least 21.9 million Ugandans to contain the pandemic.

Envt: Cities, municipalities get trucks to address waste menace

Mr Sam Atul, the mayor of Lira city receives two garbage trucks in Kampala. Photo taken by Tonny Abet in November 2021

Envt: Cities, municipalities get trucks to address waste menace

BY TONNY ABET

The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development yesterday gave cities and municipalities, garbage trucks to address the piles of rotten, unsightly and hazardous wastes that are rampant in urban areas countrywide.

Dr Sam Mayanja, the State Minister for Lands said a total of fourteen brand new trucks were given to five cities, each receiving two trucks, and four municipalities received one truck each.

Arua, Lira, Hoima, Mbale, Masaka were the cities that benefitted while the municipalities included Kitgum, Mubende, Tororo and Kasese. More cities and municipalities will follow, according to the State Minister.

“Currently, the quantity of wastes generated in all our cities and municipalities in Uganda exceeds their capacity to collect, transport and dispose it off,” he said.

He added: “This results in mountains of wastes that are a common sight in our urban areas. This poses a threat to our health and also creates scenes that make our urban areas unsightly.”

The country’s efficiency in solid waste collection is currently very low, at 30 percent. This means the biggest chunk of waste cannot be collected and a huge portion are ending up in water bodies, thereby polluting and affecting vital aquatic life like fish.

“The limited capacity to manage solid waste has resulted in many of our people using unconventional methods of disposal such as collection within the backyards and burning, collection in polythene bags and dumping in streams, roadsides and water drainage channels which leads to blockage of the channels and streams,” Dr Mayanja said.

The blockage of drainage channels has caused flooding and loss of lives, especially in Kampala, according to previous media reports.

The country is also experiencing rapid urbanisation at a rate of 5 per cent, a factor which is leading to overcrowding and emergence of slums and informal settlements which have poor garbage management strategies, according to the Ministry.  

Mayors, Ministry divided on polythene ban

Mr Sam Atul, the Mayor for Lira city and Ms Florence Namayanja, the Masaka city mayor, applauded the Ministry for the trucks but asked the government to implement the ban on polythene bags.

They said polythene is one of the root causes of the growing problem of solid wastes in urban areas which are very costly to manage.

Mr Atul said: “We have received trucks to support us on garbage management, most especially in this era when the city is growing and attracting many people, the challenges of waste management are real.”

“But we also need government to come clear on helping us to manage polythene bags. The State Minister of Environment [Ms Beatrice Anywar] has come out to say that we are going to have a ban on kaveera but action has not yet been taken. This still remains a challenge for us as a city and the whole country,” he added.

Ms Namayanja said that although the biggest source of waste is from agricultural commodities sold in the city, “plastics such as the bottles and kavera are the hardest to handle.”

“Government has made a pronouncement on the ban and there is a law banning kavera. Kavera comes from known manufacturing sites and if they [government] do not deal with it from the source, it becomes a lot problem for us and the environment because we are at the receiving end,” she said.

But Dr Mayanja said the government cannot ban kavera. “Polythene bags are produced everywhere in the world. The right thing is not to ban it but find the good way of handling,” he said. 

Dr Aceng points out 10 reasons why Ugandans are not getting quality care

Launch of government Family planning commitments for 2030 in Kampala. Photo by Tonny Abet

Dr Aceng points out 10 reasons why Ugandans are not getting quality care

BY TONNY ABET

The Health Ministry has said Ugandans shouldn’t expect significant improvement in the quality of health care if the ten shortfalls including inadequate financing, shortage of specialists and inadequate equipment are not addressed.

The 2020 Annual Health Sector Performance Report indicated that country registered 45,042 deaths in hospitals in the 2019/2020 financial year, a figure which is 13 per cent higher than the 34,491 deaths that were reported in the 2018/2019 financial year.

A statement presented by Dr Jane Aceng, the Health minister to members of Parliament on Wednesday, up to 74 districts in the country lack government general hospitals, meaning the locals have to cross districts or travel to Kampala to get medical care.

“The estimated cost for construction and equipping is Shs70 billion per hospital and total cost for 74 hospitals is Shs5.1 trillion,” she said in the statement on the state of Public Healthcare Service Delivery in Uganda presented to Parliament. The presentation followed the demand by legislators.

The Minister said the creation of new districts is not being matched by need for more funds for establishment of health facilities and service delivery to the people.

She said the government allocates each Ugandan only Shs62,900 per person per year for medical care, which according to Dr Aceng falls short of the minimum requirement of Shs125,800 to avail essential healthcare.

The Shs62,900 can only treat one episode of malaria attack in low-level clinics in Kampala where people are charged somewhere from Shs60,000 to over Shs100,000 for treatment depending on the severity of the disease.  

“With the current funding, the health sector will not achieve the targets indicated in the National Development Plan III and the health-related sustainable development goals including reduction of child mortality, improving maternal health and combatting HIV/AIDS…,” Dr Aceng said.

The country records up to 1000 new cases of HIV infections each week, according to The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and about 1.4 million people are living with the disease.

According to Dr Aceng, the biggest chunk of the funding for the country’s supplies of essential medicines come from development partners, not government.

“The available government funding for essential medicines and health supplies is Shs9,285 per capita (of which 36 percent is for ARVs),” she said.

She added:”This is far below the recommended Shs44,000 per capita. Development partners contribute up to 64 percent of the funding for medicines and this is mainly for ARVs, HIV testing kits, TB drugs, antimalarial and reproductive health commodities.”

She said the projected funding gap for essential medicines and health supplies over the period of 2020 to 2025 is Shs5.7trillion. “There is an urgent need to increase government funding for medicines and health supplies.”

List

The ten challenges presented MoH

1. The shortage of critical cadres like anesthetic officers for emergency care, and pharmacists

2. Inadequate financing to the sector

3. Increase in number of Local governments without adequate funds for health service delivery.

4. Dilapidated health infrastructure

5. Inadequate medical equipment

6. Lack of proper imaging equipment like CT scans, X-rays

7. Districts don’t have hospitals and Health Centre IVs

8. Lack of staff accommodation in health facilities

9. Inadequate funding for National Medical Ambulance service system

10. The need to strengthen community health extension workforce

Ugandan MPs express fear over Covid vaccines

November 2021: A nurse injects a Kyambogo University student with Covid vaccine at a vaccination point in Kampala. Photo by Tonny Abet

MPs express fear over Covid vaccines

BY TONNY ABET

The Members of Parliament have said a significant number of Ugandans are worried about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines even as the government forces people to take the jab to access key offices.

Mr Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LOP), said he got several complaints that the vaccines cause impotence.

“There are concerns in some areas where the uptake [of Covid-19 vaccine] is very low, that this vaccine causes impotence in men and therefore men are scared of these vaccines and is weary of the future,” he said yesterday in Parliament.

He was reacting to the presentation by Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health Minister on the state of Covid-19 response.

But Dr Aceng in response to Mr Mpuuga, said there is no evidence that the vaccines cause impotence. “Research has not documented that [impotence] issue as one of the side effects [of the Covid-19 vaccines]” she said.

Ms Betty Aol Ocan, the former LOP said some two teachers in Gulu sub-region have also died after the vaccination and that this is worsening the hesitancy.

But Dr Aceng said there is no guarantee that someone may not contract the virus after taking the jab. she said those who have received two jabs are better protected.

The government has so far administered 3.2 million doses out of 8.9million doses it acquired through donation and direct procurement. The government is racing to vaccinate 7 million people to fully reopen the economy next year.

At the plenary, Ms Cecilia Ogwal, the Dokolo District woman MP asked the government to increase salary of health workers who are doing vaccination. She said the current Shs5000 they get per day is an insult to someone who is responsible.

Dr Aceng said in response that they had put the amount at that because they expected the health workers to do vaccination in hospital setting. She said they are also constrained by finance because of limited allocation from the government for Covid-19 vaccination.

The Minister, however, said they have got some support from development partners to increase the amount given to health workers doing outreaches to Shs28,000 per day.

Dr Aceng said the government has so far spent about Shs619b on vaccine procurement and distribution but that they need Shs1.4 trillion for the entire vaccination exercise to reach the target of 22 million people. 

Keywords: Covid, vaccine, Uganda, Kampala, men, side effects, erectile dysfunction, blood clots