Browsing by Author "Mutenyo, Hellen"

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    Agronomic Assessment of Upland Rice Varieties under Unpredictable Rains in the Semi-Arid Conditions of South-Western Agro-Ecological Zone of Uganda
    (Open Access Library Journal, 2020) Muzira, Robert; Turyagyenda, Laban; Kankwatsa, Peace; Mutenyo, Hellen; Natuha, Steven; Kyomugisha, Maggiore
    This paper examined agronomic performance of three upland New RICE for Africa (NERICA) varieties promoted by the Government of Uganda in its efforts to improve household food and income security among smallholder farmers. Three rain-fed experimental trials were conducted on station at Mbarara Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MBAZARDI), with semi-arid climate conditions typical of more than 50% of the South-Western Agro-Ecological Zone (SWAEZ) of Uganda. The experimental trials were established in the long rain seasons that often occur in September-December period. But results for only one successful long rain seasonal trial of 2010 are presented in this paper. Successful experimental trial for upland NERICA had an average precipitation of 130 mm that was well distributed especially from booting stage, which is the most sensitive growth stage for upland NERICA. During the growth period, NERICA 1 and NERICA 4 were significantly taller (p < 0.05) than NERICA 10. NERICA 4 had the highest yields: two-folds that of NERICA 1, but four-folds lower than that obtained in Namulonge Crops Resource Research Institute (NACRRI), the breeder station for NERICA in Uganda. Grain yields of NERICA 4 were also below the national average of rice productivity estimated at 2.5 t·ha-1. Although, NERICA 4 ranked top in terms of grain yields among the tested upland NERICA varieties and therefore, most possible candidate for smallholder rice farmers in the humid parts of the SWAEZ, it called for more breeding for upland NERICA varieties with traits that could increase their tolerance to low soil moisture most prevalent in the SWAEZ.
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    Improved Upland Rice: Adaptability, Agronomic and Farmer Acceptability Assessment under Semi-Arid Conditions of South Western Uganda
    (Open Access Library Journal, 2019) Kankwatsa, Peace; Muzira, Robert; Mutenyo, Hellen; Lamo, Jimmy
    Enhancing the ability of plants to tolerate abiotic and biotic stresses is the current strategy for increasing agricultural productivity worldwide. Improved upland rice varieties characterized by early maturity, high disease resistance, high drought tolerance, high yielding potential, high grain quality and marketability are required by farmers to increase upland rice production to meet the increasing food and income demands. Improved and local upland rice varieties were evaluated across two seasons with and without fertilizer application. Insufficient soil water availability, low soil fertility and the blast disease were the major stresses that affected upland rice in the Rubirizi and Mitooma experimental sites in the South Western Agro Ecological Zone of Uganda. Integration of improved rice variety and soil fertility amendment with fertilizer plus proper crop management cultural practices resulted in high agronomic performance. Varieties NamChe 4, NamChe 5 and E22 showed superior performance over the other varieties in the field, and had significantly high probability (P ≤ 0.15) of being accepted by farmers. The early maturing NERICA 10, late maturing NERICA 6, SUPERICA 1 and Local Var., had high probabilities of being rejected because of low yielding, late maturity, drought intolerance, small panicle size, poor grain filling and high susceptibility to rice blast caused by Magnaporthe grisea . Therefore, improved varieties have great potential of increasing rice production in SWAEZ-Uganda, if farmers adopt the multi-technology integration approach.