Mildred Ochwo

Makerere University · Department of Agricultural Production

Introduction Yam is an important crop for food security in East and West Africa due to its high market value and customer demand. High tuber quality with yield and disease resistance are the main traits for acceptability of yam cultivars across the tropical zone. There has been limited progress in enhancing the production and quality traits of yams...

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the most important climate‐resilient oil crops in sub‐Saharan Africa. There is a significant yield gap for groundnut in Africa because of poor soil fertility, low agricultural inputs, biotic and abiotic stresses. Cross‐country evaluations of promising breeding lines can facilitate the varietal development p...

The ipomoviruses (family Potyviridae) that cause cassava brown streak disease (cassava brown streak virus [CBSV] and Uganda cassava brown streak virus [UCBSV]) are damaging plant pathogens that affect the sustainability of cassava production in East and Central Africa. However, little is known about the rate at which the viruses evolve and when the...

Breeding for common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes with optimal canning quality holds the potential for increased dry bean consumption among middle-class income urban dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Understanding the genetic control of canning quality traits is central for the improvement of common bean genotypes for desired canning q...

Pseudocercospora griseola the casual pathogen for angular leaf spot (ALS) on common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is highly variable with many different races occurring in different agro-ecological zones. Therefore, for an effective breeding program, there is a need to continuously monitor the distribution and variability of the pathogen as a means of...

Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV) disease is endemic to Africa where it affects rice production. Host plant resistance would form a cost effective and sustainable option for managing the disease. However, there is still lack of knowledge on the reaction of rice germplasm and the genetic basis of their resistance/susceptibility to RYMV coupled with la...

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp) is among the most important legume crops grown especially in the Eastern and Northern regions of Uganda. It is a climate-resilient and protein-rich legume crop that also serves as a soil fertility restorer. This crop is a mainstay across Africa, Southeast Asia, and certain areas in America. Nevertheless, the pro...

Despite the breeding efforts by many institutions, maize (Zea mays L.) productivity in sub‐Saharan Africa is still low. A limited number of productive maize hybrids have been developed partly due to a lack of knowledge on the diversity and heterotic relationship of the germplasm, especially in public breeding programs. Understanding the extent of d...

Multi-environment trials (METs) are routinely conducted in plant breeding to capture the genotype-by-environment (GE) interaction effects. We assessed the potential of using genomic prediction (GP) in four groundnut traits (pod yield[PY], shelling percentage[SP], seed weight[SW] and seed weight of 100 seeds[SW100]) observed in four environments. Th...

Understanding pollen and ovule fertility as factors influencing fruit and seed set is important in cassava breeding. Extended daylength with red light (RL) and plant growth regulators (PGRs) have been used to induce flowering and fruit set in cassava without any reference to effects on pollen viability or ovule fertilizability. This study investiga...

Understanding pollen and ovule fertility as factors influencing fruit and seed set is important in cassava breeding. Red light (RL) and plant growth regulators (PGRs) have been used to induce or enhance flowering and fruit set in cassava without any reference to effects on pollen viability or ovule fertilizability. This study investigated effects o...

Developing improved common bean varieties with short cooking time (CT) and good canning quality traits (CQTs) is very key for accelerating bean consumption among the urban and middle‐class population. The objective of this study was to assess the genotypic variability and identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with CT and...

Rice (Oryza sativa) bacterial blight (BB) is a direct threat to production in Africa. The extent of damage on the continent is not known. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to seek out Quantitative trait loci (QTL) that confer the broad-spectrum resistance (BSR) to rice Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae in the rice Multiparent advanced...

Flowering in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is crucial for the generation of botanical seed for breeding. However, genotypes preferred by most farmers are erect and poor at flowering or never flower. To elucidate the genetic basis of flowering, 293 diverse cassava accessions were evaluated for flowering-associated traits at two locations and se...

Flowering in cassava is crucial for generation of botanical seed for breeding. However, most farmer preferred genotypes are poor at flowering, exhibit great disparity in time and amount of flowering or never flower. To elucidate the genetic basis of such a flowering behaviour, 293 diverse cassava accessions were evaluated for flowering traits under...

Background: Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo), the causal agent of rice bacterial blight disease has been extensively characterized and loci against different races identified. Many rice cultivars have been developed and utilized to combat the disease, however due to rapid evolution of Xoo, a number of resistances have broken-down. The continuous...

Background Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is staple food and major source of calories for over 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The crop is also a source of income for smallholder farmers, and has increasing potential for industrial utilization. However, breeding efforts to match the increasing demand of cassava are impeded by its inab...

Soybean is a high oil and protein-rich legume with several production constraints. Globally, several fungi, viruses, nematodes, and bacteria cause significant yield losses in soybean. Coniothyrium glycines (CG), the causal pathogen for red leaf blotch disease, is the least researched and causes severe damage to soybean. The identification of resist...

Common bean is the world’s most important directly consumed legume food crop that is popular for calories, protein and micronutrients. It is a staple food in sub-Saharan Africa, and a significant source of iron for anemic people. However, several pests, soil and weather challenges still impede its production. Long cooking time, and high phytic acid...

Developing common bean genotypes that possess short cooking time and good traits for canning is very key in accelerating bean consumption among both the urban poor and the middle class population. With the objective of assessing the genotypic variability and with Genome wide association studies (GWAS) identify SNP markers associated with the two tr...

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an important oil crop with production below the real need in Africa. To increase production, substantial upgrading must be accomplished by enlarging the genetic potential of new cultivars that relies on the parents’ genetic diversity. We aimed to assess the genetic diversity and the population structure of soybean access...

Common bean is a grain legume of global importance especially for proteins and micronutrients. The crop is a staple food in sub-Saharan Africa, where it has gained importance in iron biofortification for people prone to anemia. However, biotic and abiotic constraints, long cooking time, and high phytic acid and polyphenols both of which affect bioa...

Background: Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is staple food and major source of calories for over 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The crop is also a source of income for smallholder farmers, and has increasing potential for industrial utilization. However, breeding efforts to match the increasing demand of cassava are impeded by its ina...

Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) caused by Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) is a threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease persistently reduces overall root quality and quantity resulting in up to 100% yield losses. Complexities in CBSD symptom expression and the damage cause...

Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) has been and continues to be a significant constraint to optimal cassava production in eastern and southern Africa. While CBSD has not been reported in West Africa, its recent rapid spread and damage to cassava productivity in eastern, central and southern Africa is of great concern. This study involved pre-breed...

Efficient breeding and selection of superior genotypes requires a comprehensive understanding of the genetics of traits. This study was aimed at establishing the general combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA), and heritability of sweetpotato weevil (Cylas spp.) resistance, storage root yield, and dry matter content in a sweetpota...

Background Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo), the causal agent of rice bacterial blight disease has been extensively characterized and loci against different races identified. Many rice cultivars have been developed and utilized to combat the disease, however due to rapid evolution of Xoo, a number of resistances have broken-down. The continuous...

Background: Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzae (Xoo), the causal agent of rice bacterial blight disease has been extensively characterized and loci against different races identified. Many rice cultivars have been developed and utilized to combat the disease, however due to rapid evolution of Xoo, a number of resistances have broken-down. The continuous...

Soybean ( Glycine max (L.) is an important oil crop with production below the real need in Africa. To increase the production, substantial upgrading must be accomplished by enlarging the genetic potential of new cultivars that relays on the parents' genetic diversity. We aimed to assess the genetic diversity and the population structure of soybean...

Soybean ( Glycine max (L.) is an important oil crop with production below the real need in Africa. To increase the production, substantial upgrading must be accomplished by enlarging the genetic potential of new cultivars that relays on the parents' genetic diversity. We aimed to assess the genetic diversity and the population structure of soybean...

The maize yield in the highland areas of Uganda (1500 to 3000 masl), rarely exceeding 2 t ha-1. The use of unimproved maize genotypes, the prevalence of pests and diseases, and low levels of input use has tremendously contributed to the low grain yields. Accordingly, we obtained 100 maize inbred lines majorly from CIMMYT in the year 2013. The inbre...

Cassava mosaic geminiviruses (CMGs) and cassava brown streak viruses (CBSVs) cause the highest yield losses in cassava production in Africa. In particular, cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) is and continues to be a significant constraint to optimal cassava production in Eastern and Southern Africa. While CBSD has not been reported in West Africa,...

Prolonged cooking time leads to structural changes at the grain cellular level, resulting in loss of nutrients such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) which are among the main nutrients important in addressing micronutrient malnutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diversity of cooking time, Fe and Zn content in a total of 152 common bean (Ph...

Abstract Thirty-seven local and fourteen exotic hot pepper (Capsicum spp.) genotypes were screened under natural field conditions for resistance to two quarantine fruit pests; the fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) and the false coddling moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) at Makerere University Research Institute Kabanyolo for two seasons. The genotypes...

Twenty-one hot pepper genotypes comprising of local (15) and exotic (6) types (C. annuum, C. frutescens and C. chinense) were characterized for selected fruit traits after propagation in a glasshouse at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo in Central Uganda using a completely randomized design with three replicates. Rip...

Genomic selection (GS) can accelerate variety improvement when training set (TS) size and its relationship with the breeding set (BS) are optimized for prediction accuracies (PAs) of genomic prediction (GP) models. Sixteen GP algorithms were run on phenotypic best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) and estimators (BLUEs) of resistance to both fall...

Achieving zero hunger by 2030 often raises the issue of environmental protection or sustainable social development among policy makers due to the environmental footprint of intensifying agricultural production across the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has one of the fastgrowing populations with more than half of the global growth between now a...

Genomic selection (GS) can accelerate variety improvement when training set (TS) size, and its relationship with the breeding set (BS) are optimized for prediction accuracies (PA) of genomic prediction (GP) models. Sixteen GP algorithms were run on phenotypic best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPs) and estimators (BLUEs) of resistance to both fall...

Genomic selection (GS) can accelerate variety release by shortening the variety development phase when factors that influence prediction accuracies (PA) of genomic prediction (GP) models such as training set (TS) size and relationship with the breeding set (BS) are optimized beforehand. In this study, PAs for the resistance to fall armyworm (FAW) a...

Germplasm is a valuable source of genetic diversity that supports crop improvement efforts in any breeding programme but it must first be fully characterised for economically valuable traits before it can be effectively utilised. In rice (Oryza sativa), the development of new varieties with improved aroma requires correct phenotyping and prior know...

Genomic selection (GS) can accelerate variety release by shortening variety development phase when factors that influence prediction accuracies (PA) of genomic prediction (GP) models such as training set (TS) size and relationship with the breeding set (BS) are optimized beforehand. In this study, PAs for the resistance to fall armyworm (FAW) and m...

This study investigated the phenotypic variation of continuous storage root formation and bulking (CSRFAB) growth patterns underlying the development of sweetpotato genotypes for identification of potential varieties adapted to piecemeal harvesting for small scale farmers. The research was conducted between September 2016 and August 2017 in Uganda....

Several species of herbivores feed on maize in field and storage setups, making the development of multiple insect resistance a critical breeding target. In this study, an association mapping panel of 341 tropical maize lines was evaluated in three field environments for resistance to fall armyworm (FAW), whilst bulked grains were subjected to a ma...

The maize yield in the highland areas of Uganda (1500 to 3000 masl), rarely exceeding 2 t ha-1. The use of unimproved maize genotypes, the prevalence of pests and diseases, and low levels of input use has tremendously contributed to the low grain yields. Accordingly, we obtained 100 maize inbred lines majorly from CIMMYT in the year 2013. The inbre...

Several herbivores feed on maize in field and storage setups making the development of multiple-insect resistance a critical breeding target. In this study, an association mapping panel of 341 tropical maize lines was evaluated in three field environments for resistance to FAW (fall armyworm) whilst bulked grains were subjected to MW (maize weevil)...

Several herbivores feed on maize in field and storage setups making the development of multiple-insect resistance a critical breeding target. In this study, an association mapping panel of 341 tropical maize lines was evaluated in three field environments for resistance to FAW whilst bulked grains were subjected to MW bioassay, genotyped with Diver...

Continuous storage root formation and bulking (CSRFAB) in sweetpotato is undisputedly an important trait from agronomic and biological perspectives. Information about the molecular mechanisms underlying storage root formation and development overtime is lacking. Here, as a first step toward understanding the genetic basis for CSRFAB in sweetpotato,...

This study investigated the phenotypic variation of continuous storage root formation and bulking (CSRFAB) growth patterns underlying the development of sweetpotato genotypes for identification of potential varieties adapted to piecemeal harvesting for small scale farmers. The research was conducted between September 2016 and August 2017 in Uganda....

Background: Continuous storage root formation and bulking (CSRFAB) in sweetpotato is an important trait from agronomic and biological perspectives. Information about the molecular mechanisms underlying CSRFAB traits is lacking. Results: Here, as a first step toward understanding the genetic basis of CSRFAB in sweetpotato, we performed a genome-w...

Rice yellow mottle virus causes yield losses of 10–100%, depending on disease epidemiology, cultivar grown and cropping system. Resistant rice varieties with farmer and consumer-preferred traits are, however, not available in Uganda. This study was conducted to identify new sources of resistance to RYMV. One hundred twelve (112) genotypes were eval...

Kumi F, Badji A, Mwila N, Odong T, Ochwo-Ssemakula M, Tusiime G, Gibson P, Biruma M, Prom KL, Cuevas HE, Agbahoungba S, Rubaihayo P. 2019. New sources of sorghum resistant genotypes to downy mildew disease in Uganda. Biodiversitas 20: 3391-3397. Sorghum downy mildew (SDM) disease is still prevalent in Uganda at varying levels of incidence and sever...

This study investigated the phenotypic variation of continuous storage root formation and bulking (CSRFAB) growth patterns underlying the development of sweetpotato genotypes for identification of potential varieties adapted to piecemeal harvesting for small scale farmers. The research was conducted between September 2016 and August 2017 in Uganda....

Arthropod-borne viruses are a major and growing threat to crop-based agriculture and native plant communities. Almost half of the emerging infectious agents threatening plants are viruses. In some cases, this is because viruses are inadvertently spread or introduced into new areas by human activity, but climate change is playing an increasing role...

Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), a major pest and vector of viruses in cassava, is the greatest current threat to cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Research efforts have focused on management of the two viral diseases: cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD), and have ignored the whitefly vector that is driving...

The levels of tolerance to cyclic drought stress in selected common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) lines were evaluated. Findings from this screening showed significant differences in levels of drought tolerance among the parental lines. The genetics governing drought tolerance in the selected common bean genotypes is being investigated in order to cont...