Abstract
This study assessed the growth and yield of two introduced cooking banana cultivars ‘Mpologoma’ and ‘NARITA 4’ relative to seven local highland cooking cultivars, across three sites in Rwanda, namely Karongi (1496 m a.s.l.), Gatore (1523 m a.s.l.) and Rwinzuki (1671 m a.s.l.). Data were obtained during two cropping cycles (plant crop cycle and the 1st ratoon). Data on pseudostem girth (cm) at 100 cm above the ground was collected at flowering, while number of hands per bunch, number of fingers of the second lowest hand and bunch weight (kg) were obtained at bunch harvest. Significant differences for all assessed growth and yield parameters were observed between cultivars (p<0.001). Generally, the two exotic cultivars ranked high with respect to number of fingers on the second lowest hand and number of hands per bunch. ‘Mpologoma’ had the largest bunch with a mean bunch weight of 23 kg, whereas ‘NARITA 4’ had a bunch weight of 17 kg which was comparable to the local cultivars. Thus, these 2 cultivars could potentially be adopted by farmers. Key words: Banana germplasm, local cultivars, plant crop, ratoon crop.
Highlights
Musa spp. is a major staple food crop, source of income and employment for millions of people, and it is cultivated in up to 130 countries, mainly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions (FAOSTAT, 2017).Banana and plantain are grown under various types of cropping systems over a harvested area of approximately 10 million hectares worldwide, with an annual production of 144.8 million tons (Mt) (FAOSTAT, 2017)
‘Mpologoma’ had the largest bunch with a mean bunch weight of 23 kg, whereas ‘NARITA 4’ had a bunch weight of 17 kg which was comparable to the local cultivars
Increasing the diversity of banana germplasm through the introduction of high-yielding conventionally bred hybrids and other commercial cultivars/landraces forms an integral part of technology packages for improving banana diversity and production in the central African region
Summary
Musa spp. (banana and plantain) is a major staple food crop, source of income and employment for millions of people, and it is cultivated in up to 130 countries, mainly in the tropical and sub-tropical regions (FAOSTAT, 2017). Like the entire African Great lakes region, the most common and economically important cultivars in Rwanda belong to the East African highland banana group (Musa AAA-East Africa [-EA] genome) and are mainly used for cooking and beer/wine production (Karamura et al, 1998; Ocimati et al, 2013, 2016). Increasing the diversity of banana germplasm through the introduction of high-yielding conventionally bred hybrids and other commercial cultivars/landraces forms an integral part of technology packages for improving banana diversity and production in the central African region. ‘Mpologoma’ is a high yielding AAA-EA cooking cultivar with a high market value/demand in neighboring Uganda, while ‘NARITA 4’ is a promising highland cooking banana hybrid bred by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda for resistance to black leaf streak and high yield. Depending on the growth and yield performance under Rwandese agro-ecological conditions, these cultivars could potentially provide an additional source of high quality germplasm/seed for higher farm productivity and household income
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