Yield stability of East African highland cooking banana ‘Matooke’ hybrids

East African banana (Musa sp.) breeding efforts have focused mainly on enhancing ‘Matooke’ productivity through the development of high-yielding, pathogen-resistant cultivars with adequate stability to contribute to regional food security. Before a breeding program can recommend promising cultivars for release, they must pass the sensory screens; be evaluated in the target population environments; and the data analyzed for yield, adaptability, and stability. Twenty-four primary and secondary triploid hybrids [NARITA (N)] derived from ‘Matooke’ bananas, six triploid local ‘Matooke’ cultivars, and one exotic cultivar were evaluated for their yield, adaptability, and stability across the East African region at three highland sites in Uganda’s western and central regions, as well as at three sites in Tanzania’s northeastern and southern highlands regions, from 2016–19. A randomized complete block design with four replicates was used for multisite trials. The mixed-model restricted maximum likelihood/best linear unbiased prediction approach, along with additive main effect multiplicative interaction model biplots, were used to dissect and visualize genotype-byenvironment patterns. Following the likelihood ratio test, both genotype and interaction effects were highly significant, confirming the influence of genotype and site heterogeneity for selecting specific and broadly adapted cultivars. N23 had the greatest yield across all sites associated with adaptability and stability, outperforming the overall mean yield of all genotypes by 34.2%. In Tanzania, N27 (second), N7 (third), N18 (fourth), N4 (fifth), N12 (sixth), and N13 (seventh); and in Uganda, N17 (second), N18 (third), N2 (fourth), N8 (fifth), N13 (sixth), N12 (seventh), N4 (eighth), and N24 (ninth) demonstrated good adaptability and stability, as well as high yield. Furthermore, the fungal pathogen Pseudocercospora fijiensis had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on yield, stability, and adaptability of the hybrids. As a result, they can be introduced into areas where black leaf streak constrains banana production significantly and threatens farmers’ livelihoods. The average site yield potential ranged from 9.7 to 24.3 t⋅ha–1 per year. The best discriminating sites for testing breeding clones were Lyamungo in Tanzania and Sendusu in Uganda. Hence, these testing sites are recommended as ideal examples of locations for selecting superior genotypes

Farmers' preferences for East African highland cooking banana 'Matooke' hybrids and local cultivars

BackgroundAn understanding of farmers' preferences of new banana cultivars and their characteristics is critical for developing and selecting cultivars that meet consumer needs. Therefore, phenotypic selection in a genetically variable population remains an important aspect of plant breeding.MethodsThe participatory varietal selection approach for preference ranking was used on 31 'Matooke' secondary and primary triploid hybrids and local banana cultivars evaluated between 2016 and 2019 in Uganda and Tanzania to investigate how farmers' preference attributes could help breeders identify superior cultivars. The quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The qualitative data from farmers' focus group discussions (FGDs) were described using content analysis. The Mann–Whitney U test and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test were used to confirm the difference in farmers' preferences between groups.ResultsFarmers' approaches for defining characteristics were multivariate, and their preferences varied by site and country. Large fruit, a large bunch, market acceptability of the banana bunch, a sturdy stem, and an attractive appearance of the banana plant were the characteristics most preferred by farmers in Tanzania and Uganda. Tanzanian farmers preferred large bunches over other characteristics like bunch marketability and robust stem. Large fruit, drought tolerance, a strong stem, and phenotypic similarity to local cultivars were prioritized by Ugandan farmers. Both men and women farmers were more concerned with production-related characteristics, but the former valued marketing-related characteristics more, while the latter preferred use-related characteristics. Their preferences did not differ statistically, but the relative importance assigned by each group to the selected attributes was different.ConclusionFarmers' varietal preferences are frequently based on some assumed requirements, resulting in cultivar rejection or non-adoption. Therefore, determining the value attributed to each characteristic by various farmer groups is crucial in developing 'Matooke' banana cultivars with desired attributes that will boost the rate of adoption on-farms. Breeding initiatives that establish a system of integrated approaches and rely on thorough diagnosis of both production and consumption characteristics will best serve farmers' diverse preferences. To accomplish this, planning for varietal improvement initiatives at various levels—including internationally, regionally, nationally, and locally—would require a strong participatory structure that is gender inclusive

Studies of pigeonpea insect pests and their management in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda

Systematic surveys were conducted in farmers= fields in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda to determine the incidence, distribution and damage levels due to insect pests of pigeonpea seeds. Three surveys were conducted in eastern Kenya, one in 1992 and two in 1995. Two surveys, one per country per year - were conducted in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda in 1995 and 1996. Key insect pests were pod sucking bugs (dominated by Clavigralla tomentosicollis Stal), pod and seed boring Lepidoptera (Helicoverpa armigera Hübner, Maruca vitrata (= testulalis) Geyer, Etiella zinkenella Treitschke), and pod fly (Melanagromyza chalcosoma Spencer). Seed damage due to insect pests were 22, 15, 14, and 16% in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, respectively. Damage levels indicated that pod sucking bugs were more damaging in Malawi (caused 69% of total seed damage) and Kenya (43%), while pod borers caused more damage in Tanzania (50%) and Uganda (54%). Pod fly caused more damage in Kenya than in the other countries. Pod borer damage was high in early maturing crops and pod fly in late maturing crops, while pod sucking bugs damage was high regardless of crop maturity period. Greater variations in seed damage were observed between locations in Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania than in Uganda. Warm and dry locations had less seed damage than warm and humid, cool and dry, or cool and humid locations in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania. None of the farmers visited in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda used conventional pesticides on pigeonpea in the field. Over 80% of these farmers used traditional methods in storage pest management. In contrast, 35 and 53% of farmers in Kenya had used conventional pesticides on long-duration pigeonpea genotypes in their fields

Business constraints and growth potential of micro and small manufacturing enterprises in Uganda

Ugandan micro and small enterprises (MSEs) still perform poorly. Studies associating poor performance of manufacturers with lack of finance and low investment ignore micro enterprises. Those focusing on MSEs are either exploratory in nature or employ a descriptive analysis, which cannot show the extent to which business constraints explain the performance of MSEs. Thus, this paper tries to examine the extent to which the growth of MSEs is associated with business constraints while controlling for owners’ attributes and firms’ characteristics. The results reveal that MSEs’ growth potential is negatively associated with limited access to productive resources (finance and business development services), high taxes and lack of market access

Report on consumer acceptability tests of NARITA hybrids in Tanzania and Uganda

Consumer acceptability tests of NARITA hybrids were conducted with a total of 572 randomly selected men and women farmers from 5 sites in different agro-ecological zones in Tanzania and Uganda (Maruku, Mitalula and Moshi in Tanzania; Kawanda and Mbarara in Uganda). Evaluations were done between July and November 2018 under the project ‘Improvement of banana for smallholder farmers in the Great Lakes Region of Africa’. At each site, focus group discussions (FGDs) were first conducted with different age groups: young women, young men (35 years) to ascertain the main products households make using cooking banana cultivars and the preparation method. The most important product was then prepared in each site - steamed matooke in both Uganda sites and boiled fingers in all Tanzania sites. On a given day, about 100 farmers were each provided with coded samples of four NARITA hybrids plus one local check and asked to rate each sample on a 5-point hedonic scale for the following attributes: colour, aroma, texture in hand, taste, mouthfeel and overall acceptability. This report provides results that can help inform the selection of the best NARITAs to take on-farm and subsequent varietal release

Use of hebicides for control of banana bacterial wilt in Uganda

No Abstract. African Crop Science Jouranl Vol. 14 (2) 2006: pp. 143-15

Constraints to Utilization of draft animal power technology at farm level in Uganda

No Abstract