The Program Conducts research on three commodities ie Cowpea, Mungbean and Pigeonpea.

Goal:

To be a center of Excellency for dry land legume research.

Mandate:

Generate and disseminate technologies appropriate for enhanced production of dry land legumes in Uganda.

Objectives:

1. To develop high yielding and stress resilient varieties of cowpea, mungbean and pigeonpea with desirable attributes

2. To generate & disseminate appropriate pre -& post harvest crop mgt technologies.

3. To develop &improve value chains of the cowpea, mungbean and pigeonpea.

Soil requirements and seedbed preparation:

1. The crops requires well-drained, sandy loam to clay loam soils. Heavy clays tend to encourage vegetative growth at the expense of grain production. It adapts to a wide range of pH, but prefers slightly acid to slightly alkaline soils (pH range 6-7). It has little tolerance of salinity preference is for lighter soils that allow good rooting.

2. For proper germination, a fine seedbed prepared by two ploughings followed by harrowing is needed; this promotes proper root growth that enables plants to get moisture from the soil. Where the soils are more fragile and prone to erosion, minimum or zero tillage is recommended. Click for more details