This is the end of the first year technical report for the project, “Delivering and Disseminating Biofortified Crops in Uganda,” which began in January 2012. During this reporting period, CIP supplied 100 clean in vitro plantlets of each of the four orange sweetpotato (OSP) varieties, Ejumula, Kabode (SPK004/6/6) and Vita (SPK004/6) to Makerere University Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory at Kabanylo (MAK) for multiplication. CIP also supplied a combined total of 100 virus indexed OSP mini-cuttings of Kakamega, Kabode, Ejumula and Vita to BioCrops Uganda Ltd for multiplication in the screen house. By November 2012 MAK had multiplied 6,879 plantlets, while BioCrops had 18,500 vines ready for delivery.

CIP, in collaboration with the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) of the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), identified farmers to host on-farm trials in the districts of Kabale, Isingiro, Rakai, Buyende and Oyam, and planted a total of 100 on-farm trials in the respective districts. On-farm trials were set up with four OSP clones; NASPOT 10 O (Kabode), NASPOT 7/2006/1185, SPK004 2006/1136, NASPOT 7/2006/292. CIP also setup postharvest trials, i.e. curing and storage with one farmer in each of the districts of Rakai, Masaka and Mukono. Curing trials were set up using four treatments; curing in sawdust, curing in the humidity chamber using polythene, in-ground curing for 7 and 14 days and farmers practice. The storage trials were set up in Masaka and Rakai with three treatments; pit storage with layers of sand, ordinary pit, storage of roots above ground in layers of sand and the common
storage practice used by the farmers.