An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and ...

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGIES IN UGANDA 143
Table 10.2 Estimated yield losses caused by priority banana production constraints in each of the six
production systems
Constraint
Typical losses
Loss
(percent)
Year a
High productivity Medium productivity Low productivity
Semicommercial
(percent)
Subsistence
(percent)
Semicommercial
(percent)
Subsistence
(percent)
Semicommercial
(percent)
Subsistence
(percent)
Bananaweevil 50–70 Fourth 5 10 15 26 40 60
Nematodes 40–60 Fourth 10 15 14 28 23 51
Black Sigatoka 30–50 Third 6 15 18 28 30 50
Banana bacteria wilt 80–100 First 58 58 58 58 58 90
Low soil fertility 10–70 >Third 37 58 67 83 80 91
Sources: Compiled by the authors from unpublished sources (such as the National Agricultural Research Organization’s banana program
surveys and reports) and from Rukazambuga, Gold, and Gowen (1998) for weevils, Speijer and Kajumba (1996) for nematodes, and
Okaasai and Boa (2004) for bacteria wilt.
Notes: A two-stage process was used to obtain the data. Following an initial review and compilation of available published and unpublished
sources, an expert consultation was undertaken to extrapolate available evidence and estimate losses within each production system
category.
a Year of plantation cycle in which losses typically become significant.
additional 538 thousand tons and 46 thousand
tons, respectively, of the total national
banana output (UBOS 2002). Although the
high-productivity areas account for almost
65 percent of the total production, they account
for only about 36 percent of the area
planted in bananas. Conversely, the lowproductivity
areas occupy some 42 percent
of the area in bananas, but they provide
only some 18 percent of total output. This
pattern reflects the disparity in yield levels
attained across production systems, ranging
from only 5 tons per ha for the low-productivity
subsistence systems to around 25 tons
per ha among semicommercial producers in
high-productivity areas. Low-yield subsistence-oriented
production represents 40
percent of the banana producing area, the
largest area share among the six groups.
Medium- and low-yield semicommercial
production each represent only 2 percent of
the banana area. here> 1near 10.