article · International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
Black pepper is an economically important perennial spice crop in Tanzania, yet the distinctness and yield traits of varieties maintained by farmers have lacked documentation. An on-farm assessment evaluated 138 mature vines across nine farms in Morogoro, Tanga and Unguja using 28 phenotypic descriptors. Significant differences appeared among farmer-recognised genotypes across key physical and yield-related metrics. For example, the variety BABUKUBWA produced the longest spikes and largest leaves but lighter dry spikes, whereas KATI recorded the highest individual dry spike weight and BABUNDOGO showed the highest fresh spike weight. ISMAILIA yielded the highest number of berries per spike, and NDEFU and KATI displayed the highest thousand-berry mass. The findings indicate that spike length does not reliably predict total reproductive yield on its own, showing that crop selection requires measuring multiple yield components alongside genetic validation.
Farmers frequently cultivate locally named crop varieties without formal documentation of their yield potential or distinct physical characteristics. By cataloguing the traits of Tanzanian black pepper varieties, this research demonstrates that local varieties possess distinct agronomic advantages. This baseline provides essential data to guide future crop breeding programmes, helping agricultural specialists select varieties with superior yields and better characteristics for spice production.
This research is at an early stage. It provides characterised candidate germplasm that plant breeders, agricultural research organisations, and spice sector programmes can target for future crop improvement. Moving these varieties towards commercial release or formal certification will require further work, specifically molecular testing to verify genetic distinctness and balanced multi-environment clonal trials to establish consistent field performance.
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Black pepper ( Piper nigrum L.) is an economically important perennial spice crop in Tanzania, but the identity, phenotypic distinctness and yield-component characteristics of farmer-maintained planting materials remain poorly documented. This study characterized farmer-recognized black pepper genotypes using integrated vegetative, leaf, spike, berry and reproductive-mass descriptors. An observational on-farm blocked characterization study was conducted across nine farms in Morogoro, Tanga and Unguja. A total of 138 mature vines were assessed for 28 descriptors, comprising nine qualitative and 19 quantitative traits. Vine-level quantitative data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models that accounted for farm-level clustering. Qualitative descriptors were analyzed using Fisher’s exact tests with Monte Carlo simulation and Cramér’s V. Relationships among traits and integrated phenotypic structure were examined using correlation analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis of mixed data, Gower-distance clustering and PERMANOVA. Soil variability among the nine farms was examined exploratorily using principal component analysis. Strong genotype-associated differentiation was observed for spike length (F = 171.94, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.954), number of spikes per kilogram (F = 42.09, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.927), berry length (F = 62.96, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.901), berry-size index (F = 35.71, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.813) and leaf-size index (F = 33.79, p < 0.001, partial η 2 = 0.796). BABUKUBWA expressed the longest spikes and largest leaves but comparatively light dry spikes. KATI had the greatest individual dry spike weight, BABUNDOGO had the greatest fresh weight of 100 spikes, ISMAILIA produced the most berries per spike, and NDEFU and KATI had the greatest 1,000-berry mass. Qualitative differentiation was strongest for spike shape (V = 0.909), spike setting (V = 0.806), leaf shape (V = 0.777), branching habit (V = 0.745) and leaf venation (V = 0.667). Multivariate analyses indicated that differentiation reflected integrated combinations of vegetative and reproductive traits, while farm-level clustering was pronounced for several vigour and reproductive-mass traits. Farmer-recognized black pepper genotypes in the surveyed production environments possessed coherent and multidimensional phenotypic profiles. Spike length alone did not predict reproductive mass, demonstrating that selection should integrate spike number, berry number, berry size, spike mass and dry recovery. The identified materials provide candidate germplasm for conservation and further evaluation, but morphological differentiation does not confirm genetic distinctness. Molecular characterization, and balanced multi-environment clonal trials are required before the materials can be recognized as distinct cultivars or recommended for formal release.
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DOI: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20261204.15
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