20 - 22 November 2017. Cotonou, Benin. Afri-Veg Forum 2017 Kabod P.N., Kasharu, A., Jagwe, J.N., Masanza, M., Rees D., Nampala, P.M., Kizito, E.B.

1. Towards Participatory Breeding
of Solanum aethiopicum Shum
in Uganda
Kabod P.N., Kasharu, A., Jagwe, J.N., Masanza,
M., Rees D., Nampala, P.M., Kizito, E.B.

2. Presentation outline
• Background to study
• Materials and methods
• Results and discussion
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgement

3. Background
• Indigenous vegetables have previously not benefited much
from research and development initiatives in Africa.
• There are few improved varieties for efficient domestic and
industrial exploitation.
• Specifically, leafy vegetables are notable for their nutritive
and medicinal properties.
• Therefore producers rely only on farmer-saved seed which
tends to be mixtures of various landraces.

4. Participatory breeding
• Participatory breeding involves studying the performance of varieties on-station and on-farm
and obtaining feedback from potential end-users.
• Preferred approach in improving indigenous crops and for selecting new introductions into
farmers’ cropping systems.
• Participatory evaluations of vegetable landraces provides an appropriate approach to
breeding local vegetables since it involves the farmer in setting breeding objectives right at
the start of the program.
• This research focused on Solanum aethiopicum Shum to identify farmers' cues and
preferences to serve as criteria for what traits to select for in a farmer-preferred variety.

5. Solanum aethiopicum Shum
• An African indigenous leafy vegetable in
world famous Solanaceae family (tomato,
eggplant, potato, peppers, petunia).
Genus is Solanum.
• A cultivar group of Solanum aethiopicum
(African eggplant, scarlet eggplant, mock
tomato)
• Other cultivar groups: Gilo, Kumba and
Aculentum
• Is widespread and utilized in east, central
and western Africa
• Shum is commonly known as “Nakati” in
Uganda

6. Economic importance of Solanum aethiopicum Shum
in Uganda
• Tender leaves and stems eaten boiled or steamed or stir fried
• Immature leaves are nutritious in Vitamin A, Iron, Vitamin C, Zinc
• Crop also important in cultural functions
• Short cycle crop, grown all year round by smallholder farmers in urban and peri-
urban areas (Ssekabembe, 2007)
• Thus cheap source of micronutrients for resource poor and marginalized sections
of the population (reference)
• Growth in demand of S. aethiopicum Shum has led to the need to increase
production.
• Currently farmers make a profit of 2000 USD per acre per season (PAEPARD,2017)

7. Production constraints
• Limited knowledge of agronomic practices
• Lack of improved varieties
• Limited diversification in markets
• Postharvest handling and storage
• Limited to none in terms of value addition

8. Materials and Methods
• 2015 and 2016 in east and central Uganda, two cropping seasons.
• Three farmer groups in farmers’ fields - purposively sampled
• Participatory variety evaluation and selection approaches
• Unstructured interviews in focus group discussions, key informant interviews and
sensory taste panels
• Ten accessions of Solanum aethiopicum Shum were planted in three replicates on-farm
and on-station in RCBD
• Data collected fortnightly on farmers' evaluations and selection cues from planting to
harvest.
• At harvest maturity, organoleptic tasting using a trained panel was evaluated.

9. Results and Discussion
• Limitations in the study - gender
imbalance at the beginning of focus
group discussions, group dynamics
and climate changes.
• Fifteen farmers’ selection cues
identified, majority (13 out of 15)
seedling and vegetative traits.

10. Table 1. Selection criteria and cues by growth stage
Growth stage Selection Criteria Selection Cue
Germination early/easily germinates Emergence Time
faster/slow, prolific Seedling Vigor
Vegetative short /tall plant Plant Height
small/big, narrow/wide leaf Leaf Size
green-not deep/pale leaf Leaf Color
thick/thin stem Stem Girth
green / purple stems Stem Color
early/late branching Branching Time
number of branches Branching Habit
vigorous, fast/slow Growth Rate
response to pests, disease,yield Tolerance Biotic stress
response to drought, soil fertility Tolerance Abiotic stress
appearance- bundle size, leaf and
stem color and size Market Preference
Reproductive delay/early flowering FloweringTime
good/poor, quantity of seeds Seed Production

11. Results and Discussion: Morphological Characteristics
• At germination, emergence time and seedling vigor
ranked highly.
• Tolerance to abiotic stress, leaf size, plant height and
market preference were highly ranked at vegetative
stage.

12. Commercial farmers’ characteristics important for
consumers, that implied that market strongly influences
their selection cues.
Results and Discussion Characteristics important for consumers

13. Results and Discussion: Sensory Taste panels
• Moderately bitter, tender
and sweet odor most
preferred farmers’ cues
for taste traits.

14. Table 2. Selection criteria and cues by sensory panel characteristics
Sensory Test Panel Selection Criteria Selection Cue
Texture
smooth, tender, soft ,
slipperly /rough, fibrous tender
Odor
sweet, pleasant,
pungent sweet
Taste
bitter (very /moderate)
/sour, flat/sharp moderately bitter

15. Conclusions
• Defining Ugandan farmers' cues and preferences for S. aethiopicum Shum is a
notable outcome from this study.
• Selection cues serve as criteria for what traits to select in a farmer-preferred variety.
• These have been incorporated in the respective improvement programs.
• Through participatory variety selection, farmer-preferred varieties were identified
for improvement having involved the farmer in the decision-making process (setting
breeding objectives). The three most ranked accessions per location have been
advanced for improvement.

16. Acknowledgement
MAKERERE
UNIVERSITY

17. THANK YOU
MWEBALE
NYO
ASANTE
SANA
MERCI