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B = K1211; E = K916; F = 401k-1; and H = Mbwazirume (local check).
Plate 2.5. Food colour of different banana materials that were tested
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banana production zone reported low bunch weights, it was a general problem in the two production zones. These reduced banana yields were caused by banana weevils (according to 33% of the farmers in the low production zone and 18% in the medium production zone), low levels of banana management and banana bacterial wilt. Banana bacterial wilt was only identified in the low banana production zone, and 44% of farmers in this region could clearly describe the symptoms of banana bacterial wilt.
Banana bacterial wilt had just appeared in the low production zone (Tushemereirwe et.
al., 2003). By the time of the survey the disease had not spread to the medium banana production zone. Also because of the presence of this new disease outbreak, there was an intensive sensitisation campaign in areas where the disease occurred.
About 7% of the farmers in the medium production zone and 3% percent in the low production zone had knowledge of black Sigatoka as a banana production constraint.
Yet there was more disease in the low production zone than in the medium banana production zone (Table 2.7). Earlier studies by Bagamba et al. (2000) had indicated that farmers in central Uganda where banana production had declined were not aware of black Sigatoka and attributed its symptoms to the banana weevil. In fact it appeared that the situation has not changed since then. About, 36% of farmers in the low production zone and 35% in the medium production zone associated low banana yields with the banana weevils. The banana breeders should work with extension workers to design programmes of educating the farmers about the banana diseases. This is important because farmer knowledge of the disease will enhance the adoption of the control strategy. The differences in production levels, crop management strategies, and the relative importance attached to the crop in the two regions could have caused the variation in responses of farmers about the banana constraints.
2.4.2 Farmer preferred traits
The consumer qualities of taste, colour, aroma and softness were the most important reasons farmers liked the East African highland bananas. For example 30% in the low banana production zone and 37% in the medium production zone preferred local bananas because of their food quality. On the other hand, 28% of farmers in the low production zone and 12% in the medium production zone liked the local banana because they were marketable. The low banana production zone is closer to the urban
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centre, Kampala which provides an immediate market for the bananas. One of the reasons that led to expansion of bananas in south western Uganda was as a result of the increased access to urban markets (Bagamba, 2007). Farmers also preferred early maturing varieties as pointed out by 14% of farmers in the medium and 6% farmers in the low production zones, respectively. A higher percentage of farmers in the medium production zone preferred early maturing varieties possibly because of competition for the market in the medium production zone whereas in the low production zone, there is too much demand for bananas so the banana market is always guaranteed.
In addition to not having the preferred traits, farmers failed to adopt the black Sigatoka resistant materials because these bananas required intensive management and produced very few suckers. It emerged that quality food traits, heavy bunches, resistance to pests and diseases, tolerance to drought, and time to maturity were the most important desirable traits in that order (Table 2.11). In a study by Katungi et al.
(2001) and Gold et al. (2002b), when farmers were requested to give banana selection criteria among traditional cooking banana cultivars, they chose bunch size, taste, longevity, and marketability. The most important outcome of this survey is that farmers from the two production zones surveyed expressed preference for the same traits in the local bananas. Similarly, farmers seemed to desire the same traits in the new materials. This implies that the same materials can be bred and promoted in the two banana production zones.
The Ugandan National Banana Research Programme, has been improving East African highland bananas for pest and disease resistance. Unfortunately, less than 50% of the materials exposed to farmers meet their food quality and production attributes (NaCRRI, 2007). Therefore continuous breeding efforts are required to meet end-user demands.
2.4.3 Verification of farmer preferred traits in new banana materials
An incidental discovery occurred when the panellists were preparing new banana materials for tasting, they complained of the banana sap they found in the materials while peeling them before cooking. Farmers observed that although K1211 had big fingers, it had too much sap. It thus emerged that banana sap can be a problem in the overall acceptability of new banana products. There is a need to investigate further the
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role of sap in Musa improvement and how the sap is associated with other factors such as reaction to diseases.
Farmers tested female parents together with the new banana hybrids. The panellists approved the aroma, taste and food colour of 660k-1, 401k-1, 365k-1 and 376k-7. The progenies generated by the female parents with male parents 8075 and Calcutta 4 were also tested. The clones did not have all the quality traits required by farmers except clone M1311 (401k-1 x 8075). This clone had a peasant taste, the desired yellow colour on cooking, soft texture and good flavour. On the other hand, K916 (365k-1 x Calcutta 4) was rejected because of poor texture, poor aroma and brown food colour. It is therefore possible to breed new banana genotypes from this population that will be acceptable to farmers. Even if the female parents were liked, they cannot be promoted because they have residual fertility hence can form seeds that will cause their rejection by farmers. In fact, in the initial stages, the Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) breeding programme selected tetraploids based on their taste and black Sigatoka resistance. Attempts were made to promote them with banana farmers, but when they developed seeds these materials were rejected (S. Mpiira Personal communication). This explains why NARO has adopted the 4x by 2x (Pillay et al., 2004) breeding strategy to restore sterility in secondary triploids which are later promoted to farmers. Therefore, the important outcome of this study is that desirable traits can be obtained from the female tetraploids and incorporated into breeding new materials but there is lack of knowledge behind the inheritance of desirable traits from Musa breeding populations.
What farmers consider as acceptable food ( with the desired yellow colour, soft texture, and aroma) is an important factor that will affect the adoption of new banana varieties.
In the present investigation, farmers were challenged to quantify the consumer traits they considered important. The pleasant taste, soft texture, yellow food colour, and aroma in that order were identified as the most important consumer traits in the choice of new banana materials. Although one finds different tastes within East African highland bananas, Svetlana (2003) found that taste as a consumption attribute was only significant when farmers were making cultivar choices amongst exotic or new banana cultivars. In a study carried out in Luwero, one of the areas under the low banana production zone, farmers indicated to Rutherford and Gowen (2003) that taste
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and soft texture were among the traits that constituted acceptable food. Recently, Batte et al. (2008) reported that the soft texture and yellow colour of the cooked product were the most important sensory parameters determining the acceptability of new banana hybrids to farmers. On the other hand, Akankwasa et al. (2008) reported that taste was an important attribute for accepting a new product, while other studies suggest that in addition to sensory aspects, the nutritional value of the product is important (Ayinde and Adewumi, 2008). For most crops consumer preferences affect the over-all acceptability of new varieties (IRRI, 1985; Janick, 2005). However, consumer qualities are complex traits to breed for (Spillane and Thro, 2000), and success in securing acceptability is not guaranteed. For instance, the NARO banana breeding programme has come up with better yielding, pest and disease resistant materials that have not been accepted by farmers (Nowakunda, personal communication). With the current knowledge of biotechnology and physiology advancing over time, future work should investigate the biosynthetic pathways of important consumer traits such as food colour, aroma, and texture and their relationships; the aim would be to possibly identify molecular markers for such traits to speed up and perfect selection and the breeding process. There is also need to understand the inheritance of consumer quality traits like colour, taste, texture and aroma within Musa species.