By Prossy Nandudu
Seasonal rains for the first planting season of 2024, which is March to May, will start from southwestern Uganda connecting to the central region, then around Lake Victoria basin before moving to the eastern and northern parts of the country.
Rains being received in southwestern Uganda; enteral and Lake Victoria basin are sufficient for plant growth.
That means the eastern, northern, north-eastern areas of the country will receive rains that support plant growth mid-March.
This was revealed by George William Omonyi, manager weather forecasting at the Uganda National Meteorology Authority (UNMA) in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
He was responding to concerns from some sections of the public, wondering why some areas are not receiving the rains as per the recent weather forecast from UNMA, which was released last week.
UNMA also warned that unlike the past year, Ugandans are likely to experience more rains this year, which could lead to negative effects in some parts of the country such as floods, landslides, crop failure due to flooding, disease outbreaks like malaria, cholera, loss of lives for both humans and livestock among others.
To cope with the negative effects associated with the seasonal rains, UNMA acting executive director Bob Ogwang, for example, asked the health sector to restock anti malaria and sensitisation to prevent the spread of diseases such as cholera.
For livestock farmers, Ogwang advised that livestock sheds be constructed on a higher ground for those practicing intensive farming and that such farmers should also look out for alternative feeds and also conserve hay for future use among others.
