Browsing by Author "Balitta, Paul"

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    Local knowledge of maturity indicators for priority fruits and vegetables in Uganda
    (Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, 2017) Okiror, Paul; Balitta, Paul; Agea, Jacob Godfrey; Ocan, Jolly Joe; Lejju, Julius Bunny; Bahati, Joseph; Kagoro Rugunda, Grace; Sebuuwufu, Collins Inno
    Local knowledge on maturity indicators is important in determining optimal time of harvesting fruits and vegetables. These farm products are increasingly becoming a valuable source of livelihood for many rural families through household consumption and trade. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of literature on the integration of local knowledge and practices in improving maturity assessment techniques with the view of promoting optimal harvesting and consumer acceptability of fruits and vegetables in Uganda. A study was undertaken between April and September 2014 to prioritize viable fruits and vegetables, ascertain socio-economic characteristics influencing maturity assessments, assess local knowledge on maturity indicators and document maturity assessment challenges faced by fruit and vegetable farmers, transporters and traders in Kampala, Rubirizi and Sheema districts. A total of 102 respondents were interviewed as corroborative measure to field visits and focused group discussions involving 27 participants. The findings indicate that passion fruit, watermelon and pineapple were the most preferred fruits while tomato, cabbage and eggplant were highly ranked among vegetables
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    Tree species diversity and abundance in coffee farms adjacent to areas of different disturbance histories in Mabira forest system, central Uganda
    (International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 2015) Gwali, Samson; Agaba, Hillary; Balitta, Paul; Hafashimana, David; Nkandu, Joseph; Kuria, Anne; Pinard, Fabrice; Sinclair, Fergus
    Coffee production in Uganda is done on small-scale farms containing a very significant tree component. However, there is little information on how tree species abundance, richness and diversity change in coffee farms as distance from forest changes. The main objectives of this study, therefore, were to assess (a) abundance and (b) diversity of tree species in the coffee production systems in proximity to disturbed and undisturbed forest around Mabira forest, one of Uganda’s Robusta coffee-growing areas. Seventy-nine 0.1 ha plots were established in nine villages close to undisturbed and disturbed forest, and over 5 km from the forest. A total of 875 trees belonging to 63 species were recorded. There was significant similarity in species composition among the three study sites (analysis of similarity R = 0.09, p < 0.01; analysis of variance: F3,12 = 0.353, p = 0.79). Non-metric dimensional scaling supported these findings (stress value = 0.224 at k = 2) and showed that tree species composition in the three proximity categories was very similar. These results demonstrate that tree species composition and diversity is similar in coffee farms regardless of their distance from the nearest natural forest and forest exploitation history.