ISHS Acta Horticulturae 540: I International Conference on Banana and Plantain for Africa
BANANA CULTIVARS IN A HIGHLAND UGANDAN VILLAGE: SOME EFFECTS OF FARMER SELECTION ON DIFFUSION OF CULTIVARS AND GENETIC DIVERSITY, 1937-1994 |
| Keywords: | Musa; cultivar diffusion, East African highlands, ethnobotany Uganda, gender and cultivar evaluation, germplasm exchange systems, traditional knowledge |
| Abstract:
Evaluation of East African Musa cultivars collected in 1948 indicated the extent of genetic variation within the region. Diffusion of Musa to highland areas and dispersal of cultivars within the region require documentation. Ethnographic survey data on Uganda, published in 1911, identify seven localised "centres of origin" for named highland banana cultivars within the Luganda-language area. A farming system survey at a village site in this area conducted in 1937 recorded 78 cultivar names for banana and plantain. In 1994, the author conducted intensive, questionnaire-based farmer interviews at this village, registering persistent cultivation of 38 named cultivars of highland bananas (cooking and beer types) that were also reported in 1937. Correlation of ethnobotanical records, the results of the 1937 survey and 1994 study data suggest diffusion routes to the study site for 19 named highland cultivars from six of the seven "centres of origin". Fifteen of these cultivars were reported in 1994. The chronology and transmission mode for these cultivars require additional on-site investigation. Data from the 1994 study indicate that evaluation of cultivar characteristics and subsequent adoption of Musacultivars is initiated at farm level, involving gender-based decision processes within the farm household. | |
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