Browsing by Author "Tendo Ssali, Reuben"

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    Does gender matter in effective management of plant disease epidemics? Insights from a survey among rural banana farming households in Uganda
    (Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 2018) Mutebi Kikulwe, Enoch; Okurut, Stanslus; Ajambo, Susan; Gotor, Eisabetta; Tendo Ssali, Reuben; Kubiriba, Jerome; Karamura, Eldad
    Crop diseases significantly suppress plant yields and in extreme cases wipe out entire crop species threatening food security and eroding rural livelihoods. It is therefore critical to estimate the extent to which shocks like disease epidemics can affect food availability and the capacity of smallholder farmers to mitigate and reverse the effects of such shocks. This study utilizes sex-disaggregated data from 341 households in Uganda to analyze: first, gender and access to agricultural resources and their control; second, whether men and women in the targeted banana-farming communities share similar perceptions toward the effectiveness of the banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) control technologies and their respective information dissemination pathways; third, whether gender and farmer perceptions influence on farm adoption of BXW management practices. Lastly, it determines the impact of adoption of BXW control practices on food security. Results show that whereas most household assets are jointly owned, men have more individual ownership, control, and decision-making on income from household assets than women. Perceptions on effectiveness of BXW control practices and communication channels also differed between men and women. Men rated cutting down of infected plants to be more effective than women, but tissue culture, removal of male buds and disinfecting of farm tools were perceived to be equally effective by both men and women. In addition, apart from newspapers which were more effective in delivering BXW information to men, we found no differences in the effectiveness of other BXW information sources. More importantly, the study finds both gender and farmer perceptions on BXW control to significantly affect adoption of BXW control practices and household food security. For better and sustainable management of plant epidemics in Uganda, it is therefore critical that existing gender-based and underlying perception constraints are addressed.
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    Genotypic variability estimates of agronomic traits in secondary triploid banana ‘Matooke’ (Musa sp., AAAEA) hybrids
    (African Journal of Plant Science, 2016) Tendo Ssali, Reuben; Barekye, Alex; Buregeya, Henry; Erima, Rockefeller; Namanya, Priver; Kubiriba, Jerome
    Effective selection of hybrids for a trait is based on the extent of variation and heritability. This study examined yield parameters of secondary triploid ‘Matooke’ hybrids and the extent of their genetic diversity based on the traits evaluated. Eleven genotypes, including nine ‘Matooke’ hybrids and two landraces were evaluated for 12 characters in a preliminary yield trial (PYT) over three crop cycles. Plant height, bunch weight, number of standing leaves at flowering and the youngest leaf spotted with black Sigatoka symptoms showed significant interaction between genotype and crop cycle. While characters such as pseudo stem girth, number of days for fruit filling, number of hands, number of fingers on the second hand and the fruit length showed stable differences amongst these genotypes. The genotypic coefficient of variation for the characters ranged from 7.6% (finger length) to 33.5% (bunch weight); with moderate heritability estimates varying from 13.5% (pseudostem girth) to 67% (plant height). Bunch weight showed strong positive correlation with number of hands, number of fingers on the second hand, the fruit length and pseudostem girth. These results imply that breeders could select for some of these variable and ratoon stable traits in a single cycle of early evaluation trial, subsequently reducing costs, time and space in field testing.