Browsing by Author "Alex Barekye"

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Early generation seed starter materials and approaches to seed production: Challenge for improving the potato seed system in Uganda
(Crop Science, 2023-04-20) Prossy Namugga; Son Aijuka; Osbert Arinda; Benon Mateeka; Alex Barekye
Quality seed is one of the key inputs for increasing potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) productivity; however, its limited availability is widely recognized as a major constraint to potato production. In Uganda, certified seed production meets approximately 1.5% of effective demand implying most farmers use home-saved seed. This practice encourages the buildup of degenerative seed-borne diseases which ultimately affect productivity. Consequently, a study was conducted to determine the productiv- ity of different seed potato production starting stock: tissue culture plantlets (TC) and rooted apical cuttings. Fifty plants of two potato varieties, NAROPOT1 and NAROPOT4, and for each starter material were evaluated both in the field and screen house for two seasons at Kachwekano and Karengyere research stations. Data were collected on the number of tubers per plant and tuber weight. Highly significant dif- ferences were observed for the type of starter materials and varieties for the number of tubers per plant (p ≤ 0.001) from both the screen house and field environments. More tubers per plant were obtained from TC for both varieties and the highest recorded was (24.5) for NAROPOT4 and (15.5) for NAROPOT1 in the screen house. Tuber weight was higher from rooted apical cuttings for both varieties NAROPOT1 (153.3 g) and NAROPOT4 (167.7 g). The correlation between the number of tubers per plant and weight was highly significant at p ≤ 0.001. Tissue culture raised plants were more productive in terms of tuber, and numbers are more important in seed production than weight and mini-tuber production can be done by farmers under affordable conditions.
Early generation seed starter materials and approaches to seed production: Challenge for improving the potato seed system in Uganda
(Crop Science, 2023-04-07) Prossy Namugga; Son Aijuka; Osbert Arinda; Benon Mateeka; Alex Barekye
Quality seed is one of the key inputs for increasing potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) productivity; however, its limited availability is widely recognized as a major constraint to potato production. In Uganda, certified seed production meets approximately 1.5% of effective demand implying most farmers use home-saved seed. This practice encourages the buildup of degenerative seed-borne diseases which ultimately affect productivity. Consequently, a study was conducted to determine the productivity of different seed potato production starting stock: tissue culture plantlets (TC) and rooted apical cuttings. Fifty plants of two potato varieties, NAROPOT1 and NAROPOT4, and for each starter material were evaluated both in the field and screen house for two seasons at Kachwekano and Karengyere research stations. Data were collected on the number of tubers per plant and tuber weight. Highly significant differences were observed for the type of starter materials and varieties for the number of tubers per plant (p ≤ 0.001) from both the screen house and field environments. More tubers per plant were obtained from TC for both varieties and the highest recorded was (24.5) for NAROPOT4 and (15.5) for NAROPOT1 in the screen house. Tuber weight was higher from rooted apical cuttings for both varieties NAROPOT1 (153.3 g) and NAROPOT4 (167.7 g). The correlation between the number of tubers per plant and weight was highly significant at p ≤ 0.001. Tissue culture raised plants were more productive in terms of tuber, and numbers are more important in seed production than weight and mini-tuber production can be done by farmers under affordable conditions.
Morphometric Variations of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (Linnaeus, 1758) Local Strains Collected from Different Fish Farms in South Western Highland Agro-Ecological Zone (SWHAEZ), Uganda: Screening Strains for Aquaculture
(Fishes, 2023-04-20) Gerald Kwikiriza; Mourine J. Yegon; Nelson Byamugisha; Apulnal Beingana; Faith Atukwatse; Alex Barekye; Juliet K. Nattabi; Harald Meimberg
Despite the global contribution of aquaculture as an important pillar for food and nutritional security, its rapid growth has been hampered by inadequate and poor-quality seed due to inbreeding, hybridization of related stocks, and poor-quality broodstock. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Nile tilapia in natural water bodies of Uganda has been studied but research gaps remain on the morphometric characterization of farmed O. niloticus in Uganda, which hinders selective breeding initiatives. This study characterized O. niloticus from various farmers in Uganda’s Southwestern Highland Agro-Ecological Zone using their morphometric traits. In this study, 8 morphometric traits were taken on each of the 258 fish samples collected with at least 30 samples sampled from each pond system in the zone. The morphometric data generated were analyzed using multivariate analysis. In order to delineate the populations from the different ponds, Discriminant Function analysis (DFA) was performed on the dataset and distribution plots generated to test on the purity of the strains. There were significant differences in the morphometric traits among the populations with the Victoria fish population having the highest standard length while the Kyoga population had the highest weight. Morphometric characterization grouped the fish into three clusters, indicative that fish farms in the zone possibly had different sources of fish seed. The condition factor, which is a measure of wellbeing of the fish, showed that all the populations displayed an isometric growth which is indicative of the fish growing in length as it is in weight. The results of this study provide evidence that local O. niloticus from different farms display differences in body shape as a result of using fish seed from different sources. This aspect can be applied in selective breeding programs after establishing the genetic structure of the farmed Nile tilapia stock.