527/1

Agriculture

Paper 1

2024

[Link]

Instructions to Candidates.
This paper consists of six Examination Items. It has 2 sections;A and B.

Section A has two compulsory Items.

Section B has two Parts I and II,Answer one item from each Part.

Answer Four Examination Items in All.

Answer All items in this section.

Item 1.

(a).Vegetables are a good accompaniment to meals and well known for their plenty of nutrients
especially [Link] district is dorminated by a rich plant biodiversity such as red pepper,
neem trees, among others. A youth development group (YDG) was established in this district
three month back , the group recieved a grant through the parish development model (PDM)
these youth secured an acre of fairly fertile land and they decided to venture in the growing of
Sukuma [Link] to their one acre of land is a commercial rabbit farm whose wastes are just
pilled up in one place .These youth do not have enough money to buy other necessory inputs but
they recieved sukumawiki seeds from national advisory services (NAADS).On visting the
vegetable markets they observed that sukumawiki is scarce in the markets as witnessed in soroti
central market ,these youth also observed that most sellers in the market sell damaged vegetables
with holes and discoloured leaves.

Task:
As the district extension officer eplain to this youth group how they can use the available
resources to reach their goal and as well be able to supply good quality produce to the
market.

(b).Having realized that students in a school have preferences for fruits like passion fruits, the
Young Farmers Club decided to establish an orchard in the school farm. Some areas of the
school farm are steep and rocky with shallow soils while other areas are gently sloping with
deep, well drained and fairly fertile soils. In the course of running the project, it was observed
that the soils in the nursery were compact, sticky and flooded with water. The pH of the soil in
the nursery is lower than the recommended range for fruit growing. The seedlings were thin
with shallow roots, bent stems and yellowish leaves.

Task
In your view, suggest the improvements that the Young Farmers Club should do to ensure
profitable fruit production on the school farm
Item 2.

Mr kapere wanted to grow Beans on a large piece of land , He cleared all the vegetation from the area
and collected the trash to allow proper movement of the fàrmer to all points in the field. After collecting
the trash from the cleared area , he spotted 20 places in the field convenient for picking soil samples
from. He collected the necessary tools required for the activity. He put on gumboots,farm gloves , went
to the farm tools and equipment store and picked a hand hoe,soil auger , spade , soil sampling bag and
loaded the tools on the wheelbarrow. He then pushed the wheelbarrow to the field ready to collect soil
samples.

Task

As a soil scientist, suggest the activity that [Link] was going to carryout.

Write an essay explaining the steps that were to be taken to fulfill [Link]'s need and give reasons
for carrying out the above activity on the farm.

Section B.

This Section has two Parts ; I and II

Part I: Animal Production.

Answer one item from this part.

Item.3

John is a dairy farmer ,his dairy cows produce about 8 litters of milk per day,he wishes to
improve the quantity of milk produced by his cows . He was adviced to by the veterinary officer
to improve the qaulity of feeds he uses to feed his cows so as meet the nutritional requirements
for sufficient milk production. John was told told that he can formulate a dairy meal containing
16% of crude protein using maize bran which is 8% crude protein and fish meal which is 40%
crude protein .

Task:
(a).If John is to formulate 5 bags of a dairy meal each weighing 100kgs. Help him calculate the
quantity of maize bran and fish meal he will use.

(b).Explain to John the factors he should bear in mind when mixing feeds for his animals
Item 4.

Majority of the rural population consider domestic birds especially chicken as a Bank from
which they can easily obtain money. In such places poultry farming is on a small scale under free
range production system in which a few birds are kept and left to scavenge for [Link] free
range system is associated with high incidences of disease that may wipe out the flock, loss of
eggs , thefty of birds , also chicks are preyed upon by predators. All this limits productivity of
birds .

Task:
Imagine you are a farmer intending to improve productivity of birds under this small scale free range
system,design an instructional kit you are going to use to achieve your goal.

Part II: Crop Production

Answer one Item from this part

Item 5.

Sembatyas community depends on livestock rearing for their livelihood, they rear animals on
large pieces of land and their animals yield an average of 4 litteres of milk per [Link]
during certain season of the year, the animals drastically lose condition or get ematited .this
lowers the market value of animals at that time,this they attribute to lack of enough pastures for
their [Link] touring the grazing areas of ssembatyas community,many areas were bear with
out any pasture, some pasture species were drying up and animals were seen eating some pasture
plants and leaving others as they searched for more. While interacting with sembatya ,he said
that in some months of the year, his community recieves heavy down pours and during such
seasons the patures are in exccess and thus the animals have more than enough to feed on.
Task:
As a student of agriculture ,write a speech you will use to senstize sembatyas community to
adress the challeng they are facing and be able to keep their animals in a good body condition

Item 6
A vegetable farmer decided to grow a hectare of tomatoes. He set up a nursery bed in a free
draining area near a water source. After preparing the nursery, he broadcast the seeds, covered
them well with soil and watered the bed. The seeds germinated well and seedlings covered the
entire soil surface. He maintained all the seedlings up to the time of transplanting. Transplanting
began at twelve noon on a sunny day as the farmer had to attend a meeting at 2.00 pm the same
day. After a week, some empty spaces were noticed within the crop rows. The plants which
survived had many branches and leaves. When the farmer inspected his crop before the plants
reached maturity, he observed dark brown patches on the leaves and stems. Dark brown circular
spots were also covering large parts of the fruits. At a later stage, holes were also observed on
some bigger fruits. At harvest, farm workers picked the fully ripe red fruits, packed and sealed
them in plastic bags. The packed fruits were to be delivered to the market in a week’s times.

Task
Write a message to the vegetable farmer advising him on how he should carry out tomato
growing efficiently.

END.