Katamba is reaping big from pumpkins

Jul 09, 2015

BEFORE Katamba started, he decided to consult a famous farmer in Zirobwe who also grows pumpkins to seek more knowledge. He advised him to intercrop pumpkins with matooke

By Umar Nsubuga

 

HE owns a garage but farming is his passion. Daniel Katamba a resident of Bekina village, Mityana District, and it was in early 2010 that he started to plough the family land that had been lying idle for years and bought an extension to make it nine acres.

 

"My main aim was to establish a pumpkin farm around Kampala, I was going to do this with my colleagues, but it was expensive to get land in the urban centre.  But one day, I thought to myself that I should make use of the family land in Bekina to grow my own pumpkins.

 

Getting started

Before Katamba started, he decided to consult a famous farmer in Zirobwe who also grows pumpkins to seek more knowledge. He advised him to intercrop pumpkins with matooke.

 

So, he planted about 1000 seedlings of pumpkins, but then he realised that there was still space on the land, so he added cabbages on the remaining two acres.  "The initial cost was high although I cannot state a particular figure. However, what I remember is that it was expensive".

 

So, between February and June 2010, I started to see that my project was progressing. I even hired a farm attendant to help out with various tasks on the farm. Being begin of the year, there was enough rain for the crops to grow well.

 

By June 2010, after I planted the pumpkins, I got the first harvest. At first, it was about full pick-up, but between June and July that year, the harvest had increased to about two pick-ups.

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Katamba also owns a garage. Photo by Umar Nsubuga

When I realised that I could harvest much more of the pumpkins, I went to Kampala to look for market for my produce. I talked to various vendors in different markets.  We settled for Sh1,000-1,500, whenever I bring to them.

 

Earnings

The business then started picking up, after the second harvest.  In November alone, I earned Sh1.8m from the both pumpkin and cabbages. This is in addition to Sh1.2m I earned in June and Sh800,000 in November.

 

Challenges

Bekina is located in a remote place and transporting the produce during the rainy season is very difficult.

 

My farm always hosts to various monkeys, most of my products and, at worst, destroys even the immature crops.

 

How to grow pumpkins 

There are over seven varieties of pumpkins in Uganda. These include sweet cream, bala, dulu, onziga, sunfish, sugar pie and anderina. 

 

Pumpkins can be grown in almost any part of Uganda. In most cases, farmers just throw a few seeds near the homestead or in the banana garden. The seeds then develop into plants without much more input from the farmer. 

 

The first step in planting pumpkins is to dig a hole of 3ft by 2ft and 3ft deep. Then plant four seeds evenly in a hole. 

 

However, remember to have soaked the seeds in water for 24 hours before planting them. You need to fertilise the hole using organic manure. 

 

The seeds will germinate between seven to 14 days. Mulching the area around the stem of the plant will help it to retain water. 

 

When they are two months old, the plants are pruned of any excess leaves. In case they are attacked by pests, a mixture of redpepper, tobacco and animal urine can be applied. 

 

Animal urine is more potent if it is kept for a fortnight before use. Options for artificial pesticides include durbsban 4E, cooper fungicide, indofile m45 and UREA. 

 

Harvesting starts 90 to 120 days (about three to four months) from the date of planting. The harvested pumpkins can be stored for between eight to 36 weeks if they are not disposed of immediately. 

 

Each plant can yield about 50 to 60 pumpkins in a season.

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