Evaluation and dissemination of introduced banana germplasm: A preliminary assessment of the planting material distribution system

K. Nowakunda, W.K. Tushemereirwe, P. Namanya, J. Namaganda, C. Nankinga & P. Ragama

The East African highland banana (Matooke), is an important food and cash crop in Uganda. However, it is susceptible to pests (weevils and nematodes) and diseases (black Sigatoka, bacterial wilt and banana streak virus).  Host plant resistance has been identified as the most appropriate solution to these problems and selection of resistant clones from introduced germplasm adopted as one of reducing losses due to these constraints.  Seven promising clones selected from foreign introductions were evaluated in Uganda.  The farming communities tried the clones for various uses including cooking, roasting, juice extraction and dessert bananas. Five clones were selected on the basis of bunch size, cooking quality and juice extraction ability. They noted that although the new bananas were not as good in taste as the East African highland banana they were as good as other starchy foods in their areas. The introduced bananas were acclaimed for the advantages of being higher yielding than all the food crops known to them. The selected clones are currently diffusing fast in the areas.  Performance of the distribution system was assessed through a survey. Results indicated that all the banana suckers are being efficiently utilized by either passing them free or at a cost to other farmers and there is overwhelming demand for suckers of KABANA 3H and KABANA 4H.  The evaluation sites and Kawanda serve as sources of planting material for private operators who have expressed interest in distributing the plants. Failure to access the planting material by the poorest farmers in some areas where demand is extremely high and, therefore most suckers distributed at a cost, was noted as a serious weakness of the system to be addressed.