Commercial vegetable production is synonymous with the adoption of greenhouse technologies. Doreen Nampamya, a research associate with the Korea Program on International Agriculture (Kopia), Uganda explains that the traditional way of growing vegetables in open fields is related to crop failure due to the adverse climatic condition.
Nampamya says that greenhouse technologies are a form of protected agriculture aimed at addressing limitations of open-field cultivation. The plants are cultivated in sheltered structures covered by a transparent, material. The main purpose of greenhouses is to provide favourable growing conditions and to protect crops from unfavourable weather and various pests. The covering materials can include polyhouse, fibre reinforced plastic house and glasshouse. A greenhouse can be made locally using materials such as eucalyptus trees for support provided it is well sheltered from waterlogged and places prone to strong winds.
“Site selection should not be a big challenge since you can modify everything including bringing in soils,” Nampamya says. Since plants growing in a greenhouse require different conditions, farmers have to seek technical information from agronomists, according to Nampamya. The greenhouse should be properly ventilated to enable optimum crop performance . The vent of the structure should be oriented in the direction that the wind is coming from.