Farmers traits preferences for improved banana cultivars in Tanzania and Uganda

An understanding of farmers’ preferences for new banana cultivars and their traits is critical for the development of cultivars that meet consumer needs and for successful adoption. The objective of this review was to evaluate the cultivar traits that influence farmers adoption of improved banana cultivars in Tanzania and Uganda. The study reviewed the literature on the introduction, evaluation, preference, acceptance and rejection of improved banana cultivars in Eastern and Central Africa (ECA), especially in Tanzania and Uganda. A total of 268 papers published from year 1930 to the present were collected using the advanced search databases of ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Scopus, ProMusa, Musalit and CGIAR. The results show that new cultivars have adopted both the formal and informal seed systems for introduction in both Uganda and Tanzania, and there has been a huge effort to develop the new cultivars locally through the establishment of local plant breeding programs. The traits farmers consider turned out to be more diverse than the formal understanding of the same traits by researchers. Cultivar preference varied primarily with use, market demand, agro-ecology, local culture and exposure to new cultivars, as well as socio-economic factors. For cooking bananas, farmers preferred sensory attributes (taste, flavor, texture and color). Bunch, hand (fruit cluster) and fruit characteristics plus resemblance with other traditional dessert cultivar was preferred for the dessert bananas, in addition to sensory attributes. The preference for juice, beer or wine cultivars focused on astringency, starch, plant vigor and bunch size. Irrespective of the end use, host plant resistance to pests and pathogens and marketability were important considerations to all types of bananas. Among other things, age, gender, dissemination strategies, extension services and years of farming experience, are the most important factors determining banana cultivars preferences among farmers. However, the gender aspect of banana trait preference was rarely considered in most studies and early maturity, a major focus of crop genetic improvement research, was found to have limited influence on the decision on cultivar use. Given the differences in consumption preferences, genetic composition, and the way genetic makeup interacts with the environment, no single cultivar equally supplies all the attributes needed by farmers. In addition, farmers use different cultivars under diverse ecological conditions, in various cropping systems and under different level of management. However, there is still a need for a participatory plant breeding approach involving farmers that enhances simultaneously production and consumption attributes. Such an approach is likely to promote adoption of hybrids banana cultivars in the region