Unravelling technology-acceptance factors influencing farmer use of banana tissue culture planting materials in Central Uganda

Effective management of plant health is fundamental for food and income security to meet the growing demands of local and global markets. This however requires farmers’ adequate access to quality planting materials under the prevailing contextual and psycho-social factors. This study, anchored in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technologies, unravels technology-acceptance factors that influence farmers’ intentions to use banana tissue culture planting materials in the control of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt. Data were collected from 248 randomly sampled banana farmers using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modelling to examine hypothesized paths in the uptake of banana tissue culture planting materials. Results show that farmer intentions to use tissue culture planting materials are dependent on two constructs: social influence and farmer innovativeness. However, social influence is the main predictor of intentions to use tissue culture planting materials. In particular, farmer innovativeness mediates facilitating conditions and social influence in predicting intentions to use tissue culture planting materials. Thus, this study reveals two factors that influence farmer intentions to use tissue culture planting materials: social influence and farmer innovativeness. The findings imply that social influence and farmer innovativeness are critical in disseminating novel agricultural technologies in Uganda and elsewhere

User guide to the four-square method for intervening in root, tuber and banana seed systems. RTB User Guide

This guide presents a step-by-step procedure on how to use the four-square method for intervening in root, tuber and banana seed systems. The four-square method is a research tool that supports the generation of evidence on seed systems diversity so as to formulate interventions to conserve varieties and to improve availability, access, and quality of seed forvegetatively propagated crops (VPC). The tool consists of four squares that are drawn on either the ground or on a chart. Varieties of the crop of interest are mapped in each of the four squares based on their abundance i.e., Each square therefore represents either varieties grown by many households on large area, many households on small area, few households on large area or few households on smallarea. The data is collected in a participatory way using focus group discussions (FGDs) guided by questions that are framed according to the objectives of the study. The objectives could include, but no limited to, understanding local crop diversity, understanding the economic potential of crop varieties, setting breeding goals and developing plant breeding programs, determining impacts of seed interventions on crop varieties and monitoring crop variety diversity changes over time. Separate FGDs are often held for men and women to capture gender-specific perceptions. The social characteristics of FGD participants such as their age, marital status, level of education, and main occupation are also collected and used in the analysis. The tool can also be used to study on-going and completed seed system interventions

User guide to the toolbox for working with root, tuber and banana seed systems. RTB User guide

This user guide to the Toolbox for working with root, tuber and banana seed systems introduces tools to diagnose, evaluate, and improve seed systems of banana, cassava, potato, sweetpotato, and yam. As a whole, these crops are called roots, tubers and bananas, and they are crucial for food security and income generation, especially in developing countries. All of these crops are reproduced vegetatively, from roots, tubers, stems, suckers or vines. This bulky planting material is expensive to transport. Vegetative seed is perishable and (except for potatoes, yams and a few other exceptions) must be planted as fresh as possible, and it is more likely to carry pests and diseases than true seed. Besides these unique challenges, improved seed systems of root, tuber and banana crops give farmers the opportunity to boost their livelihoods by accessing better quality planting material from landraces or improved varieties that are high yielding, resistant to stresses, more nutritious or more responsive to consumer demand

Toolbox for Working with Root, Tuber, and Banana Seed Systems

Root, tuber, and banana (RT&B) crops are critical for global food security. They are vegetatively propagated crops (VPCs) sharing common features: low reproductive rates, bulky planting materials, and vulnerability to accumulating and spreading pathogens and pests through seed. These crops are difficult to breed, so new varieties may be released slowly relative to new emerging threats. VPC seed systems are complex and face several challenges: poor-quality seed of existing varieties, low adoption rates of improved varieties, and slow varietal turnover, limiting yield increases and farmers’ ability to adapt to new threats and opportunities. Addressing these challenges requires first identifying key knowledge gaps on seed systems to guide research for development in a holistic and coherent way. Working together across 10 crops and 26 countries in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, the CGIAR seed systems research community has developed a “Toolbox for Working with Root, Tuber, and Banana Seed Systems,” which introduces 11 tools and a glossary to address four major gaps: (1) capturing the demand characteristics of different types of farmers; (2) identifying effective seed delivery pathways; (3) ensuring seed health and stopping the spread of disease; and (4) designing effective policies and regulations. We describe the toolbox and its creation and validation across 76 crop-and-country use cases, and illustrate how the tools, applied individually or in combination, are addressing the key knowledge gaps in RT&B seed systems. The tool developers are actively working to scale the toolbox, including identifying new partners and models for collaboration, developing new tools, and supporting new applications in VPCs, as well as for fruit, vegetable, grain, and pulse seed systems