Local knowledge of maturity indicators for priority fruits and vegetables in Uganda

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

Keywords

Farmer, Fruit, Local knowledge, Maturity indicator, Trader, Uganda, Vegetable

Citation

Okiror, P., Balitta, P., Agea, J. G., Ocan, J. J., Lejju, J. B., Bahati, J., ... & Sebuuwufu, C. I. (2017). Local knowledge of maturity indicators for priority fruits and vegetables in Uganda. DOI: 10.5897/JAERD2017.0878

URI

https://nru.uncst.go.ug/xmlui/handle/123456789/772

Collections

Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences

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