Browsing by Author "Godfrey, Sseremba"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Cup quality profiles of Robusta coffee wilt disease resistant varieties grown in three agro-ecologies in Uganda
    (John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2022-01-22) Joseph, Mulindwa; Archileo, N Kaaya; Lawrence, Muganga; Moses, Paga; Pascal, Musoli; Godfrey, Sseremba; William, W Wagoire; Daphne, N Bitalo
    AbstractBACKGROUNDThe recently developed Robusta coffee wilt disease resistant (CWD-r) varieties in Uganda outperform the local landraces, both in yield and resilience. However, their uptake has been slow due to limited information on their cup worth. This study profiled the cup worth of the five most commonly grown CWD-r across the Lake Victoria Crescent, Western Mid-altitude farmland and Central Wooded Savannah agro-ecologies.RESULTSSignificant correlations (P ≤ 0.05) were observed between soil nutrients and coffee bean size but this was not the case for biochemical and cup quality. The proportion of coffee beans retained on screen 15; minimum acceptable size through coffee commercial markets, ranged from 58.09% in Mukono to 92.49% in Mityana. Interestingly, the bean size of variety KR4 was hardly influenced by environmental variations, with portions of beans retained on screen 15 being relatively the same (80.30% Ibanda, 89.50% Mukono, 98.20% Mityana). Coffee cup quality for most of the varieties was scored as premium (70–79%) across three agro-ecologies, with the exception of KR4, which was scored specialty grade (≥80%). Coffee blends generated were used to make coffee products with specialty score (82.25%) and a distinctive aroma complex.CONCLUSIONIn this study, blends of CWD-r resulted in superior cup scores (76–82%). These findings show that CWD-r varieties have a high cup worth with potential for wide adaptation in Uganda's Robusta coffee growing agro-ecologies. Most importantly, variety KR4 has resilience across three agro-ecologies with a consistent high bean size and superior cup quality, making it a candidate variety for the market and breeding. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Identity of Fusarium species associated with collar rot and wilt in passion fruit (Passiflora edulis )
    (Student's Journal of Health Research Africa, 2022-12-30) Nassimbwa, Florence; Matovu, Enock; Kiggundu, Andrew; Charles, Changa; Godfrey, Sseremba; Francis, Mumbanza; John, Adriko
    Despite the immense contribution of passion fruits to people’s livelihood on a global scale, the crop’s productivity remains low owing to fungal diseases causing up to 100% loss. Fungi are highly variable and the identity of species or variates responsible for recently devastating passion fruit wilt and collar rot diseases had not been characterized. This study was aimed at identifying pathogens causing wilt and collar rot symptoms in passion fruits. Fungi were isolated from diseased samples collected from three locations in Central Uganda to identify Fusarium spp associated with collar rot and wilting of passion fruit. This was established by differentiating mycelium pigmentation on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA), examining slides at X40 magnification under a light microscope for specific macro and microconidia, and amplification with specific Transcription Elongation Factor-1α, TEF 1α primers for identification of Fusarium spp. It was revealed that wilting was associated with a single species, out of 6 selected isolates from the suspected wilted plant, 3 were Fusarium spp associated with the disease in the field but only one of these isolates was proved to be a pathogenic type Fusarium oxysporium. Collar rot was associated with one pathogenic Fusarium spp out of the 6 selected isolates. The results indicate that collar rot and Fusarium wilt are each caused by specific strains of Fusarium pathogens.