Sustainable rural food systems for poor and vulnerable people need to be locally adapted to enhance food security. This requires participatory action research that considers the entire food value chain (FVC). This paper presents an assessment of the feasibility and potential success of upgrading strategies (UPS) for enhancing food security based on a study that was part of a larger participatory research project in two regions of Tanzania. The authors present the results relating to natural resource management and crop production. The results for natural resources show that enhanced soil water management was rated as high for the semi-arid Dodoma region. For the Morogoro region, the experts favoured soil fertility-improving UPS, such as conservation agriculture and agroforestry. Assessments of food production for both regions indicated the importance of intercropping, manure input, pest and disease control and cover crops. Assessments differed greatly between the two different climatic regions, and to a lesser extent between the nationality of the experts and their gender. This highlights the importance of including different South-North and female-male awareness in assessments. Implementation feasibility assessments of UPS indicated that the most suitable approaches were rainwater harvesting for semi-arid and conservation agriculture for subhumid regions respectively. Local and/or regional stakeholders and experts should be involved in developing and assessing site-adapted UPS for enhancing Tanzanian FVCs.

This was a 5-year study that included surveys during the first 2 years, followed by field evaluations of improved tomato lines over the next 3-year period. Surveys were conducted in 12 regions of Tanzania from 1993 to 1995 to identify the causal nematodes of tomato root-knots. Eighty-seven samples were collected and assayed for presence of Meloidogyne spp. M. hapla, M. incognita, and M. javanica were detected at incidences of 1, 19, and 89%, respectively. Species mixtures were common within samples. Results indicated the presence of races 1 and 2 of M. incognita in tomato-growing regions of Tanzania. Reactions of eight advanced tomato breeding lines to the three species in greenhouse and field tests indicated that three lines, namely ARP 365-2, 367-1, and 367-2, were resistant to M. incognita races 1 and 2 and to M. javanica, but all lines were susceptible to M. hapla.

Food security is one of the main goals of rural poor people. To enhance food security in this context, participatory action research can help to ensure sustained success while considering entire food value chains (FVC). This paper assesses the feasibility and potential success of upgrading strategies (UPS) as well as their assessment criteria as developed by German and Tanzanian agricultural scientists. The results form part of a larger participatory research project conducted in two climatically representative regions of Tanzania: semi-arid Dodoma and subhumid Morogoro. This paper presents the findings with respect to food processing, waste management and bioenergy, along with income generation and market participation. Assessments on other components of the FVC, including natural resource management, crop production and consumption, are reported by Graef et al (2015). The assessments for food processing revealed preferences for preservation techniques, oil extraction processes and food storage devices for the semi-arid region. In contrast, in the subhumid region, the experts favoured food storage devices and preservation techniques. Assessments of waste management and bioenergy UPS for both regions indicated the importance of animal feed from crop residues, crop residues as mulch and compost from food waste, although with somewhat different priorities. Assessments on income generation and markets in both regions revealed preferences for savings and credit cooperatives and communication techniques, but also indicated that warehouse receipt systems and guarantee systems had a high impact. Assessments differed between the two different climatic regions, and to some extent also between the nationality of experts 180

This study was conducted to evaluate the susceptibility of grapevine varieties to powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is a disease caused by a fungal, Erysiphe necator, and an obligate parasite of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). Powdery mildew causes drastic yield losses of 50 to 70%. Commercial grapevines grown in producing countries are susceptible to powdery mildew. Use of fungicides to control the disease is expensive and not environmentally friendly. Therefore, use of grapevine resistant varieties to powdery mildew is cost-effective control method. In this study, ten varieties (Black rose, Regina, Queen of Vineyards, Alphonce lavallee, Makutupora red, Chancellor, Halili belyji, Syrah, Ruby seedless and Makutupora white) were screened for resistance to powdery mildew, using artificial inoculation of spore suspension and dry inoculums. Infected grape leaves were sampled from the field and grounded to obtain powder which was used as dry inoculum. The spore suspension inoculum was made by mixing powder with sterilized distilled water. The inoculation was done in two blocks with concentration of 2x10 5 spore/ml. Disease severity was evaluated based on a scale of 0 -5; 0, means immune and 5, high level of disease severity. Results showed significant difference (P<0.05) of disease among grapevine varieties evaluated. It was found that 11.1% were resistant, 33.4% tolerant and 55% susceptible to disease. Grapevine variety Chancellor showed the highest level of resistance, and Black rose the most susceptible. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of using inoculation methods in screening resistance to powdery mildew. Indexing terms/KeywordsErysiphe necator; Grapevine; Powdery mildew; Resistance; Severity. Academic Discipline And Sub-DisciplinesThe relevant academic disciplines for this journal is based on plant pathology studies SUBJECT CLASSIFICATIONThe subject is Agriculture classification TYPE (METHOD/APPROACH)The research type is experiment; laboratory analysis for inoculum and field experiment evaluation

Genetic improvement of grape cultivars to obtain high quality wine and table grape varieties by conventional breeding methods has been difficult and time consuming. The elite grape varieties developed by conventional breeding techniques have less resistance to fungal and bacterial diseases, drought, quality and yield per plant. Breeding programs of grapes are difficult due to lack of true bred from seed and few traits of importance. Though most grapes constitute large number of genes, they have less effect in tolerating biotic and abiotic stresses. Genetic improvement of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) through application of biotechnological techniques provide new strategies in grape breeding programs based on rapid selection or induction of desired traits by marker assisted breeding, genetic engineering and plant tissue culture. This review paper therefore, aims to discuss biotechnological techniques proposed for improvement of grape breeding.