All different varieties - with fruits of varying colour, shape and crispiness – lined the pathways of her tiny backyard garden in western Flanders. Over the span of her life, she had steadily collected them by exchanging cuttings with friends, neighbours and other amateur horticulturists. Having nursed them into full-grown...

A beekeeper with a colonized hive must remember that the success in keeping bees depends on the colony management. This technology describes important colony management processes including keeping colony record, brood nest control, and robbing and its prevention. This technology is part of a series on hive management derived from...

This technology provides information and advice on egg production and sale in developing countries with an emphasis on marketing, i.e. producing in order to meet market demands. Market-led egg production enables long-term business survival, higher profits and improves the egg producers’ living standards. Improvement measures discussed in this publication have...

The preservation of fruit and vegetables by simply sun drying is practised widely throughout arid and semi-arid regions, for example in Uganda. The use of low cost, solar drying technologies, can significantly improve product quality. This provides practical opportunities for developing small-scale enterprises, particularly in rural areas, and to create...

Fish is the cheapest source of protein and provides between 50 to 100 percent of animal protein in developing countries and 12 percent worldwide. Fish is the second highest source of income in Uganda and main revenue to the country’s fisherfolk. However, it is a perishable commodity. Its quality deteriorates...

Since tsetse flies feed mostly on the legs of the largest animals in the herd, an application of pour-on insecticides or sprays restricted to the legs of cows, bulls and draught animals has been shown to be effective in controlling tsetse. This also results in significant cost-saving to the farmer...

Tsetse flies (Glossina sp.) infest over 11 million square km of Africa, and are vectors of Trypanosomosis (or Trypanosomiasis) in both man and domestic livestock. For example, it is estimated that tsetse occur over 7 percent of Zimbabwe and 60 percent of Tanzania and Trypanosomosis has an important negative impact on livestock...

The commonly farmed fish in Uganda, the Nile tilapia, grows very slowly in the cooler regions like Kabale, Kapchorwa and parts of Mbale and Kabarole. In 1957, the mirror carp (simply called Carp), was introduced into Uganda from Asia. Carp, unlike tilapia, takes eight months to attain an average weight...

Traditional agricultural adaptation practices in Haiti address the consequences of natural disasters, preventing and mitigating them. One such practice, intended to reduce the impact of droughts, floods and tropical cyclones and storms, is the construction of a granary called “Colombier”. It is a structure built on high posts where grains...

Aquatic animals that can be harvested sustainably from a farmer managed system without regular stocking, are referred to as Self Recruiting Species (SRS). A range of indigenous and introduced fish species, as well as molluscs, crustacea, and amphibians are inevitably present in many rural aquaculture systems, even where attempts have...

In the northern Republic of Ghana, a manually operated press for shea butter extraction is successful and popular among rural women. Shea butter production is an important income earning activity for women in rural areas and for many, it is their only source of income. Shea butter is used for...

Insect pests are the most important production constraints in Uganda. American bollworms, spiny boll worms and pink boll worms are among the ten insect pests, which are feeding and damaging flower buds, flowers, and young and maturating bolls. This is causing plant abortions, amounting to up to 87 percent resulting...

The Panzarawani Community Radio Station, named after the river Panjhra in Dhule district of Maharashtra in Western India, is bringing about a welcome change to marginalised indigenous ethnic communities by broadcasting information on good agricultural practices. Panzarawani reaches around 72,000 listeners in 90 villages.

Tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) infest over 11 million sq km of Africa, and are vectors of Trypanosomosis (or Trypanosomiasis) in both man and domestic livestock. For example, it is estimated that tsetse cover over 7 percent of Zimbabwe and 60 percent of Tanzania and Trypanosomosis has an important negative impact on livestock...

Sorghum is the third most important staple cereal food crop in Uganda after maize and millet occupying 285 000 ha of arable land. It is mainly used for food and brewing. In an attempt to improve food security and incomes among the rural poor households, The Serere Agricultural and Animal...

In the Bolivian Andes, some officials are starting using local knowledge to improve their early warning systems for natural disasters. For centuries, local farmers have used the signs of nature (clouds, stars, the behavior of plants and animals) to predict disasters like hail, floods and droughts, and to forecast the welcome...

The Government of Andhra Pradesh introduced Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) in 2016 as an alternative to chemical-based and capital intensive agriculture through its implementing agency Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS). The main objective of the ZBNF is to make agriculture economically viable, agrarian livelihoods profitable, thereby reducing agrarian distress through cost reduction and...

The following practice provides information on features of woodlots, agroforestry and improved fallow as means to use wood resources more efficiently and prevent deforestation, environmental degradation and firewood supply shortages. The advantages and disadvantages of these practices are also detailed which include labour saving, livelihood resilience strengthening, livelihood diversification, use...

Farmers in Haiti traditionally apply a number of actions before and after natural hazards hit in order to reduce the impacts particularly on high-market value products. For example, farmers can anticipate banana harvesting to mitigate the losses in case of natural hazards occurrence. The integrated package of practices to reduce...

This technology describes the introduction of improved cattle breeds in Uganda. The improved breeds are more productive and resistant to diseases and are managed by applying the zero grazing production system. This is a type of production system where the animals are kept in an enclosure to control input use...