West Nile vegetable farmers cautioned against indiscriminate use of chemicals

By Sunday Amandi

Arua

Vegetable farmers in West Nile are called upon to seek for the rightful procedures before they can apply agro-chemicals on their vegetables, as excessive application of these chemicals can be harmful to human health.

According to David Edaku, the Northern Uganda Resilience Initiative (NURI) climate smart agriculture coordinator, most farmers use these chemicals on their vegetables without following the correct procedure of application, and this puts the lives of consumers at risk. “Unnecessary application of these agro chemicals, also known as pesticides can cause harm to human health, and also contaminate the soil, water, and other vegetation” Edaku said. Edaku calls upon the farmers to fast seek for knowledge before applying these agro-chemicals.

Similarly, Jamal Asibuku, a sales agronomist with Omia agri-business encourage the farmers to follow the directives they give them while using these chemicals to be safe. He encourage the people to put on their protective gear when they are applying the chemicals, and use of the appropriate equipment for application

Meanwhile, Nichodemus Bandua,a model farmer in Drajini sub-county, in Yumbe district encourage his fellow farmers to also make use of the organic chemicals to minimize cases of health threats posed by these agro-chemicals. “We mix Neem, salt, and red pepper to spray their vegetables and it functions well,” said Bandua. According to experts, agricultural chemicals can be best applied early in the morning, and in the evening, with all the precautionary measures.