Participatory assessment of potato farming systems, production constraints and cultivar preferences in Uganda

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a major food and cash crop mainly grown by small-scale farmers in the highland regions of Uganda. Farmer practices and constraints in potato production and management differ from one area to another and so are desired attributes. A survey was conducted in eight major potato producing districts of Uganda. The study districts were from Central, Eastern and South Western regions of the country. The survey was carried out from May to August 2015. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 577 individual farmers. The results showed that potato is produced for both food and cash benefits in all the districts. Only 2% of the respondents from Eastern and South western Uganda obtained seed from research stations while all respondents from Central Uganda used farm saved seed. Major production challenges were pests and diseases. The major pests were aphids and cutworms while late blight and bacterial wilt were the prominent diseases. Across the three regions Rwangume and Victoria were the commonly grown cultivars while Cruza and Marierahinda were the most rejected varieties. These were rejected on account of being white skinned with low marketability and Cruza becomes marshy on cooking. High yield, resistance to late blight, early maturity and marketability were the most preferred attributes in new varieties. Late blight had been experienced by 98% of the farmers and 96% of these reported to have used fungicides to manage the disease.

Current status of knowledge about end-user preferences for boiled potato in Uganda – A food science, gender and demand perspective

“…Other varieties are; Rwangume, Nakpot 1, Sankena, Civilian, Megabond, Cruza and Kachpot 1 (Tatwangire and Nabukeera, 2017). According to Namugga et al (2017), Rwangume and Victoria are the commonly grown varieties in South Western, Eastern and Central regions. A list of selected potato varieties with their sensory, post-harvest and morphological attributes is shown in Table 1.…”

“…In parts of Eastern Uganda (Kapchorwa), key varietal attributes according to farmers include: storability, high dry matter and flesh color while in South Western Uganda (Kabale and Kisoro) it was tuber size (CIP, 2018). According to Namugga et al (2017), preferred attributes by farmers include red skinned and yellow fleshed potatoes which are associated with good eating quality. Katundu et al (2010) reported that consumers look out for potatoes with smooth skin, no sprouting, no blemishes and no greening when purchasing at the marketplace.…”

“…On the contrary, small size tubers were identified as one of several characteristics leading to abandoning certain varieties such as Bumbamagara and Cruza (Wachira et al, 2008). Namugga et al (2017) reported that Cruza and Marierahinda were increasingly rejected in all major potato growing regions due to their white skin, low marketability and, in the case of Cruza, development of a mashy texture when cooked. Potato farmers in Eastern Uganda sort out poor-quality potatoes on the basis of size (small), physical damage (cuts and bruises), greening of tubers and off-type varieties (Tatwangire and Nabukeera, 2017).…”

Combining Ability Analysis of Dry Matter Content, Reducing Sugars and Yield of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Genotypes in Uganda

“…During the year of 2017, Uganda had an annual potato production of 173,244 tons harvested from an area of 39,374 ha [3]. The potato crop in Uganda, especially in the districts of Kabale and Kisoro is a major source of food and cash income [4]. Majority of the potato produced is increasingly being processed into chips and crisps through retail outlets and home consumption [5].…”

“…Despite the growing importance of processing in the Ugandan potato industry, there is limited availability of potato varieties within the Ugandan market with specific infusion of particular tuber processing attributes to fit into the processing and marketing chain. These processing attributes of dry matter content and reducing sugars have not received sufficient research attention in Uganda as there seems to be limited information regarding their inheritance, and this together with the few available varieties possessing quality processing attributes has resulted into a demand deficit which is bound to affect the income security of the resource poor farmers in the highland areas as they sell 60 -70% of their crop production [4,5,6,7]. Processing attributes of dry matter content and reducing sugars are quantitative traits that are affected by genetic factors of the plant besides environmental conditions [8].…”