Seed Security Factors Driving Farmer Decisions on Uptake of Tissue Culture Banana Seed in Central Uganda

Abstract

Despite the promotion of tissue culture (TC) banana to curb the spread of diseases, farmer use of such quality planting material remains low. This study utilizes the Double-Hurdle model on cross-sectional data of 174 banana farmers in Central Uganda to analyze the drivers for uptake of TC banana plant materials. Results show acceptability (β = 0.74; p < 0.01), adaptability (β = 0.69; p < 0.01) and availability for farmer use (β = 1.04; p < 0.01) along with social influence, farmer competences and socioeconomic factors positively influence farmer uptake of the TC banana plantlets. For uptake intensity, the main drivers include acceptability (β = 0.39; p < 0.05), accessibility (β = 0.39; p < 0.01) and farmer competences. This study demonstrates that seed security factors with farmer competencies, social influence and socioeconomic factors influence farmer decisions on uptake of TC technology for banana production. Findings emphasize the need for more involvement of extension services and research institutions in the education and promotion of TC plants in farming communities. We recommend that banana TC developers and promoters focus attention on banana varieties that are acceptable and adaptable to farmer environmental conditions.

Exploring Smallholder Farmers’ Preferences for Climate-Smart Seed Innovations: Empirical Evidence from Southern Ethiopia

“…To express this conceptually, drought-tolerant varieties provide the highest utility (net benefit) to farmers, assuming that everything is held constant. This result confirms the findings of the authors of [48] who attest that farmers will enhance the uptake of tissue culture banana seed in central Uganda only if the given technology is best adapted to drought stress. The cultivation of drought-tolerant varieties ensures yield stability and, hence, risk-cautious farmers are highly inclined to secure subsistence consumption.…”

Banana seed exchange networks in Burundi – Linking formal and informal systems

“…For banana however, seed tracing and network studies can be challenging owing to the perennial planting system, which makes source contact tracing difficult. In many situations, due to small farm holdings, banana growers usually need only small quantities of seed (Nkengla-Asi et al, 2021). Improved methods of seed-sharing documentation such as through known cultivars might help address this shortcoming.…”

“…In Cameroon, Nkengla-Asi et al ( 2020) had reported that system shocks linked to disease risk left the more vulnerable farmers (women farmers and non-natives) more exposed, given their restricted seed sourcing options. Indeed, in Uganda, Mulugo et al (2020aMulugo et al ( , 2020b reported that women would be more willing to adopt tissue culture seedling technology, especially for cooking varieties of banana, where the varieties were perceived to promote household food security objectives. Both studies, therefore, recommended prioritization of seed sourcing space for vulnerable growers at small scale access, since infected gardens would remain a risk to all re-established gardens at the landscape scale.…”

The contestations of diversity, culture and commercialization: why tissue culture technology alone cannot solve the banana Xanthomonas wilt problem in central Uganda

“…Establishing banana plantations with clean (pathogenfree) seed 2 is the most effective way to manage the BXW (Also see Thomas-Sharma et al 2016). This has led to popularization of Tissue Cultured (TC) plant material as a response strategy to supply disease-free seed and enhance productivity (Dubois et al 2013;Mulugo et al 2020). In this aspect, TC banana epitomizes many of the principles of the New Green Revolution of Africa 3 (Vercillo et al 2015;Schnurr 2019).…”