Dr. Rosemary Bulyaba

I hold a PhD in crop production and physiology with a minor in sustainable agriculture from Iowa State University, USA. My graduate research work during MS and PhD was focused on studying various aspects of leguminous crops as detailed in the research section. My work previously focused on grain legumes – cowpea, common bean, lablab and soybean in line with nutrition sensitive agriculture and agronomic management practices. Part of this research work focused on utilization of legume leaves as leafy vegetables or forage, the nutritional composition of these leaves, leaf harvesting recommendations and the impact that leaf harvesting may have on yield especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where legume leaves are part of diets. This is addition to studies to determine how leaf harvesting may impact legumes’ potential to fix nitrogen. I have also undertaken studies to determine the impact of seed applied fungicides and Bradyrhizobium inoculation in legumes on yield; determine the impact of environment on yield and nutrition of common beans in a study done in multiple locations in the USA and Uganda. I also did a project in Uganda to determine optimum limestone application rates for acid soils and the impact that these rates may have on yield and, iron and zinc concentrations in newly released high iron-zinc bio-fortified common beans. I have published four papers in reputable scientific journals and continue to work on others to be published later.

I have worked with Ankom technology for sequential fiber analysis and near infrared spectroscopy for grain quality and agrochemical control and analysis. I hold experience in working with different Microsoft Office tools and other analytical tools, including SPSS and SAS. I have served in a consulting capacity on the USAID funded project to assess youth engagement in private sector extension and advisory services in Uganda. I currently work as a senior lecturer and head of department with Uganda Christian University’s Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and supervise a number of graduate students. I am passionate about food and nutritional security and how they are impacted by cropping systems and management and look forward to working students, farmers and researchers through a career in academia.

Senior Research Assistant February 2020 – March 2020

Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS)

Project title: Youth engagement in private sector extension and advisory services study, under the USAID FTF Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) project, Kampala, Uganda

• Interviewed organizations and companies and, collected information on youth involvement in and provision of extension services in rural communities

 Graduate Research Fellow, Legume Scholar (Ph.D.)  May 2015 – December 2019

Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

Major Professors: Andrew Lenssen and Kenneth Moore

Project title 1: Genotype by environment effects on yield and grain nutrient composition of common bean

• Determined the effect of location on yield and seed nutritional composition in four common bean genotypes

Project title 2: Limestone application effects on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) yield and grain iron and zinc on a Ferralsol

• Evaluated the effect of limestone application rates on yield and grain iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in newly released high iron and zinc, drought resilient varieties of common bean (NAROBEAN 1 and 3)

Project title 3: Effect of leaf harvesting on nodulation and yield in common bean and cowpea

• Determined nutritional composition of common bean and cowpea leaves harvested at vegetative stage six
• Analyzed the impact of leaf harvesting on common bean and cowpea nodulation and potential for nitrogen fixation

 Graduate Research Assistant (M.S.) May 2013 – August 2015

Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

Major Professor: Andrew Lenssen

Project title 1: Nutritional composition of grain legume leaves and the impact of leaf removal on yield

• Determined optimum leaf harvesting percentages that will not compromise grain and leaf yield
• Determined the chemical and nutritional composition of harvested leaves (harvested at V6) and seed oil-protein concentrations at maturity
• Provided legume leaf harvesting management recommendations to avoid plant stress and yield loss
• Highlighted the factors that could enable legume recovery from leaf harvest and simulation of leaf loss (from shoot apex) by uncontrollable factors like insect and hail damage and determining the effects that these could have on seed yield, information useful as a farmers’ tool or guide for crop insurance

Project title 2: Influence of Bradyrhizobium inoculation and fungicide seed treatment on development and yield of cowpea, lablab and soybean

• Determined the existence of interactions between fungicide and Bradyrhizobium in soybean, cowpea and lablab (hyacinth bean)
• Ascertained the effectiveness of indigenous rhizobia in the soil and how they affect the potential for improving biological nitrogen fixation through inoculation
• Determined nodulation following fungicide and Bradyrhizobium seed treatments
• Determined differences in biomass and grain yield with different treatments of fungicide and Bradyrhizobium

Undergraduate Student June 2010 – August 2010

Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics, Makerere University, Kla, UG

Project title: Case study survey at Katende Harembe Rural Urban Training Centre

• Specialized in outlining the general empirical decision-making procedures used in agriculture and documented the decision-making situations faced by farmers at different levels of the value chain
• Analyzed the farm’s financial procedures, examined the performance and financial position of different enterprises on the farm alongside cost benefit analysis

Undergraduate Student – February 2012 – July 2012

Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics, Makerere University, Kla, UG

Project title: Profitability of tilapia marketing in Central Uganda; A case of six markets in Wakiso and Kampala districts

• Identified the socio-demographic and economic characteristics of fish traders in Central Uganda
• Examined the profitability of fish marketing by assessing various costs and benefits associated with the business and identified the underlying factors affecting profitability
• Characterized the various tilapia marketing stages and channels and the constraints in the tilapia marketing business

Bulyaba, R., A.W. Lenssen, K. J. Moore, and O. Semalulu.  Limestone application effects on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) yield and grain iron and zinc on a Ferralsol soil in Uganda. Accepted September 15^th 2020 in African Journal of Agricultural Research, AJAR

 Bulyaba, R., D. M. Winham, A. W. Lenssen, K. J. Moore, J. D. Kelly, M. A. Brick, E. M. Wright and James. B. Ogg. 2020. Genotype by location effects on yield and seed nutrient composition of common bean. Agronomy 10(3), 347 doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10030347

Rosemary Bulyaba and Andrew W. Lenssen. 2019. Effect of leaf removal on grain legume yield and nutritional composition of harvested leaves. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment 2:180015 doi:10.2134/age2018.06.0015

Rosemary Bulyaba and Andrew W. Lenssen. 2017. Influence of bradyrhizobium inoculation and fungicide seed treatment on development and yield of cowpea, lablab, and soybean. Crop, Forage, and Turfgrass Management. Volume 3, doi:10.2134/cftm2017.01.0007 

Sustainable, Secure Food Blog (American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America). https://sustainable-secure-food blog.com/2020/06/07/what-are-smallholder-farms/  7 Jun, 2020

Presentation on “Food, culture and agronomy” at the student immersion session for the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute at Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State University. 30 Apr, 2018, Ames, Iowa

Presentation on graduate school tips; Surviving Grad School in a sustainable agriculture colloquium and class SUSAG 600, Iowa State University. 30 Aug 2017, Ames, Iowa

Elevator speech presentation for ‘Agronomic Scientific Presentations class, AGRON 601’, Iowa State University. 15 Jan 2015, Ames, Iowa

The impact of education on the lives of children in Uganda at Iowa State Board of Governor’s meeting, Iowa State University. 22 Sep 2014, Ames, Iowa