Farmers’ selection cues in cowpea for vegetable use in eastern Uganda

A participatory cowpea varietal selection was carried out in Eastern Uganda in Kumi district among farmers (n=30) in the sub-Counties of: Ongino, Kumi and Kanyum. A range of opinions were collected to identify farmers’ selection criteria based on different sensory attributes and their most preferred genotypes for vegetable use. A preference analysis was carried out to obtain quantitative preference scores of each plot. This was followed by organoleptic tests which included attributes like taste, aroma and texture of the genotypes at the vegetative and immature R4 stages. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also held to find consensus of the independent evaluations made by individual farmers. Data for sixteen (16) cowpea genotypes were collected at the different above mentioned stages. Quantitative data were analyzed based on farmers’ scores made on the different evaluated attributes and ANOVA was used to provide mean differences between location, gender and genotype at a significant level of 5%. Preference score for each of the varieties tested was determined and presented. Data from FGDs were grouped, similarities and differences were later determined depending on their level of importance to the farmers. Significant differences (p<0.05) in farmer choices were observed for leaf taste, immature pod aroma, taste and texture; mature pod aroma, taste between farmer groups, age genotype and gender. Irrespective of age, gender, farmer group and genotype, farmers seemed to give more importance to the smooth texture, little hard leaves when chewing, sweet taste with a mild aroma (leaves) and a moderate aroma (pods). Majority (9%) of the farmers preferred Ebelat (landrace) at V4 stage; this was followed by Danila (8.7%). On the other hand, UCUCOW1 (13% at immature and 10.2% at mature cooked R4 stage) followed by Ebelat (9% and 9.8% for immature and mature R4 stage, respectively) were preferred by majority of the farmers. In terms of sensory attributes, farmers preferred genotypes with sweet taste, moderate aroma and tender texture. The information is a baseline for understanding key farmer selection criteria in utilization of cowpea as a vegetable which can be used in generating a demand-led variety design for the crop.&nbsp

Farmers’ selection cues in cowpea for vegetable use in eastern Uganda

This is a research article on participatory cowpea varietal selection was carried out in Eastern Uganda in Kumi district among farmersA participatory cowpea varietal selection was carried out in Eastern Uganda in the Kumi district among farmers (n=30) in the sub-Counties of Ongino, Kumi and Kanyum. An arange of opinions were collected to identify farmers’ selection criteria based on different sensory attributes and their most preferred genotypes for vegetable use. A Apreference analysis was carried out to obtain quantitative preference scores of each plot. This was followed by organoleptic tests which included attributes like taste, aroma and texture of the genotypes at the vegetative and immature R4 stages. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also held to find a consensus of the independent evaluations made by individual farmers. Data for sixteen (16) cowpea genotypes were collected at the different above-mentioned stages. Quantitative data were analyzed based on farmers’ scores made on the different evaluated attributes and ANOVA was used to provide mean differences between location, gender and genotype at a significant level of 5%. The preference score for each of the varieties tested was determined and presented. Data from FGDs were grouped, similarities and differences were later determined depending on their level of importance to the farmers. Significant differences (p<0.05) in farmer choices were observed for leaf taste, immature pod aroma, taste and texture; mature pod aroma, taste between farmer groups, age genotype and gender. Irrespective of age, gender, farmer group and genotype, farmers seemed to give more importance to the smooth texture, little hard leaves when chewing, sweet taste with a mild aroma (leaves) and a moderate aroma (pods). Majority (9%) of the farmers preferred Ebelat (landrace) at V4 stage; this was followed by Danila (8.7%). On the other hand, UCUCOW1 (13% at immature and 10.2% at mature cooked R4 stage) followed by Ebelat (9% and 9.8% for immature and mature R4 stage, respectively) were preferred by the majority of the farmers. In terms of sensory attributes, farmers preferred genotypes with a sweet taste, moderate aroma and tender texture. The information is a baseline for understanding key farmer selection criteria in the utilization of cowpea as a vegetable which can be used in generating a demand-led variety design for the crop

Linear Discriminant Analysis of Structure Within African Eggplant ‘Shum’

This paper covers research on African eggplant which lags behind in research attention; leading to, among other gaps, scantiness of information on intra-group genetic diversity.African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum) lags behind in terms of research attention; leading to, among other gaps,scantiness of information on intra-group genetic diversity. Hierarchical clustering was applied to reveal structure in a pioneer 20-entry set of S. aethiopicum Shum group accessions at Africa Solanaceae Research Network secretariat in Uganda, using 61 morpho-agronomic variables collected from a complete randomised design (CRD) with 12 plants per accession in screen-house. A MANOVA preceded linear discriminant analysis, to model each of 61 variables, as predicted by clusters and experiment to filter out non-significant traits. Four distinct clusters emerged, with a cophenetic relation coefficient of 0.87 (P<0.01). Canonical variates that best predicted the observed clusters include petiole length, sepal length (or seed color), fruit calyx length, seeds per fruit, leaf fresh weight (or leaves per plant), fruit fresh yield, seedling vigour, fruits per plant, harvest index and plant growth habit. Results suggest prospects for variety discrimination at various stages; seedling, vegetative and reproductive. The observed diversity will boost chances of effective selection for desired traits; while the canonical discriminant traits are potential morphological markers, within S. aethiopicum ‘Shum’ for a low-cost germplasm characterization approach

Linear discriminant analysis of structure within African eggplant \u2018Shum\u2019

African eggplant ( Solanum aethiopicum ) lags behind in terms of research attention; leading to, among other gaps, scantiness of information on intra-group genetic diversity. Hierarchical clustering was applied to reveal structure in a pioneer 20-entry set of S. aethiopicum Shum group accessions at Africa Solanaceae Research Network secretariat in Uganda, using 61 morpho-agronomic variables collected from a complete randomised design (CRD) with 12 plants per accession in screen-house. A MANOVA preceded linear discriminant analysis, to model each of 61 variables, as predicted by clusters and experiment to filter out non-significant traits. Four distinct clusters emerged, with a cophenetic relation coefficient of 0.87 (P&lt;0.01). Canonical variates that best predicted the observed clusters include petiole length, sepal length (or seed color), fruit calyx length, seeds per fruit, leaf fresh weight (or leaves per plant), fruit fresh yield, seedling vigour, fruits per plant, harvest index and plant growth habit. Results suggest prospects for variety discrimination at various stages; seedling, vegetative and reproductive. The observed diversity will boost chances of effective selection for desired traits; while the canonical discriminant traits are potential morphological markers, within S. aethiopicum \u2018Shum\u2019 for a low-cost germplasm characterisation approach.L\u2019aubergine Africaine ( Solanum aethiopicum ) demeure en arri\ue8re en termes de travaux de recherches\ua0; conduisant \ue0, entre autres lacunes, manque d\u2019information sur la diversit\ue9\ua0g\ue9n\ue9tique intra-groupe. La classification hi\ue9rarchique \ue9tait utilis\ue9e pour r\ue9v\ue9ler la structure dans une s\ue9rie de 20 accessions de groupe Shum de S. aethiopicum au secr\ue9tariat du R\ue9seau Africain de Recherches sur les Solanaceae utilisant 61 variables morpho-agronomiques collect\ue9es d\u2019un design complet al\ue9atoire (CRD) avec 12 plantes par accession sous la serre. Une MANOVA a pr\ue9c\ue9d\ue9 l\u2019analyse discriminante lin\ue9aire, pour mod\ue9liser chacune des 61 variables, comme pr\ue9dit par les classes et l\u2019exp\ue9rimentation pour filtrer les traits non-significatifs. Quatre diff\ue9rentes classes ont \ue9t\ue9 identifi\ue9es, avec un coefficient de relation coph\ue9n\ue9tique de 0,87 (P&lt;0,01). Les variables canoniques qui ont mieux pr\ue9dit les classes observ\ue9es comprenaient la longueur du p\ue9tiole, la longueur du s\ue9pale (ou la couleur des graines), la longueur du calice du fruit, le nombre de graines par fruit, le poids de feuilles fra\ueeches (ou feuilles par plante), le poids du fruit non sec, la vigueur des plantules, le nombre de fruits par plante, l\u2019indice de r\ue9colte et l\u2019habitude de croissance du plant. Les r\ue9sultats ont sugg\ue9r\ue9 une discrimination de la vari\ue9t\ue9 \ue0 divers stades, semis, v\ue9g\ue9tatif et reproductif. La diversit\ue9 observ\ue9e va augmenter les chances pour une s\ue9lection effective des traits d\ue9sir\ue9s\ua0; alors que les traits discriminants canoniques sont les marqueurs morphologiques, parmi le S. aethiopicum de type \u2018Shum\u2019 pour une approche de caract\ue9risation \ue0 moindre co\ufbt du germplasm