A survey was carried out in the districts of Nakaseke and Masaka which were purposively selected to represent areas with low and medium levels of banana production, respectively. Masaka district shares a border with Sembabule district in the northwest, Mpigi district in the north, Rakai district in the west and south, and Kalangala district in the east. With a land area of 6986km2 and an average altitude of 1329m above sea level, Masaka district has generally sandy loam soils with two cropping seasons. The first season is from March to June/July, and the second from August to December. The mean annual rainfall ranges between 1100mm to 1200mm.
Ethnically the district is occupied by the Baganda (majority), Banyankole, Banyarwanda and Banyoro. The main economic activities are farming and fishing. Major crops grown are bananas, maize, sweet potatoes, millet and sorghum. Administratively, the district is divided into three counties and one municipality. Each county is demarcated into sub-counties; on average three to four sub-counties constitute a county. Sub-counties are further demarcated into parishes. Ten to 15 villages (each about 120-180 households) constitute a parish.
Nakaseke district has a land area of about 1924km2 with an average altitude of 1164m above sea level. The district shares a border with Luwero in the north, Nakasongola in the east, Kiboga in the west and Masindi in the south. Nakaseke district is demarcated into eight sub-counties. The district has mainly red sandy loam soils and receives an average annual rainfall of 1300mm with peaks in March-May and October-November.
The main economic activity is agriculture with coffee, bananas and nomadic
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pastoralism being the major sources of income. Ethnically the district is occupied by the Baganda (majority) and Banyankole pastoralists.
2.2.2 Sampling procedures
The survey was conducted in October and November, 2007 in the low and medium production zones, respectively. In each zone, one sub-county was selected. For each district a list of parishes in the selected sub-county was obtained. Three parishes were randomly selected for the low production zone, and four parishes for the medium production zone. Five to six villages were randomly selected in each parish.
A list of residents in each village was obtained from the local chief (Chairman LC1).
With the help of field assistants and the local chief, farmers were selected randomly from each village by ballot, each household being allocated a ballot paper. The numbers selected per village were proportional to the number of households in the village. In total, 30 respondents were selected per sub-county.
2.2.3 Data collection and analysis
A structured questionnaire (Appendix 3.1) which involved open-ended questions that allowed farmers to give as much information as possible was administered. The questionnaire captured farmers’ knowledge of black Sigatoka, qualities desired in East African highland bananas, constraints on the production of East African highland bananas, and qualities that farmers desired in new banana genotypes. After interviewing the farmers, the overall incidence of black Sigatoka was estimated in the farmers’ banana plantations using transect walks, on a 1-10 scale where 1 represented 5% severity, 2 represented 10% severity, 3 represented 15% severity, in that order up to 10 representing 50% severity. The disease severity was estimated in all banana plantations whose owners were interviewed.
The UNBRP has identified and trained a farmers group in Gombe subcounty, Wakiso district to test new banana materials as they are developed. This group of farmers was requested to validate farmer preferred traits in 4x by 2x progenies together with their parents. Sixteen genotypes with a local cultivar ‘Mbwazirume’, (Table 2.1) were
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selected and tested with the farmers group. The farmers group consisted of 17 panellists of which 47% were females and 53% were males.
Table 2.1 Female tetraploid parents and secondary triploids validated by farmers for quality traits
Cross Progenies
365k-1 x Calcutta 4
K913 K914 K915 K916 K928 401k-1 x 8075
M1311 K1313 K1314 660k-1 x 8075
K1211 K1223 K1216 K1224
Local check (Mbwazirume) K1511
A group of women pealed bananas progenies shown in table 2.1 above (Plate 2.1), split them longitudinally to observe the colour of the fresh banana pulp (Plate 2.2), wrapped the bananas in banana leaves and steamed them on fire as indicated in Plate 2.3. Farmers’ comments made as they prepared the bananas were recorded.
48 Plate 2.1. Women pealing bananas to taste
Plate 2.2. Banana fingers with different colour intensities
1 is white, 2 is cream, 3 and 4 are yellow but 4 is more intense and 5 is orange
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Plate 2.3. Preparing and steaming banana materials for testing
Farmers assessed the new banana genotypes for ‘empoma’ (taste), ‘akawoowo’
(aroma), ‘obuweweevu’ (mouth feel or texture) and ‘langi’ (food colour). The panellists were given a form written in their local language, Luganda and were requested to score each trait qualitatively following guidelines shown in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2. Description of different grades for food colour, mouth feel, aroma and taste of new banana genotypes
Score Luganda English
6 Kirungi nnyo, nkyagala nnyo Like extremely
5 Kirungi nnyo, nkyagala Like very much
4 Kirungi nkyagala Like
3 Sikirungi Dislike slightly
2 Kibi sikyagala Dislike very much
1 Kibi nnyo ddala Dislike extremely
The panellists were requested to quantify the relative importance of food colour, aroma, texture and mouth feel as it affected overall acceptability of new banana materials.
Each farmer placed beans against each food attribute (Plate 2.4) as a measure of the weight attached to it.
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empoma = taste, akawoowo = aroma, obuwewevu = texture langi = colour
Plate 2.4. Panellists’ quantification of ‘empoma’, ‘akawoowo’, ‘obuwewevu’ and ‘langi’
The frequencies of farmers’ responses, elicited by the questionnaire in the two zones, were computed using SPSS version 15.0. The panellists’ responses on the aroma, texture, colour and taste were also analysed and computed into frequencies of approval or non-approval of the trait.