Profitability of Improved versus Traditional Cultivation Practices for African Indigenous Vegetables

Vegetables are important for nutrition and income of rural and urban households. However, vegetable consumption in Uganda is below World Health Organization (WHO) recommended guidelines, partly due to low production. The persistent low production arises from poor cultivation methods, low soil fertility, poor quality seed, pests and diseases, among others. This study compared the profitability of improved cultivation methods for African indigenous vegetables (AIVs), i.e., pure stand and in lines, versus traditional practice (mixing seeds of different AIVs then broadcast), both for leafy and seed production. The AIVs included: Nakati (Solanum aethiopicum L.), Bugga (Amaranthus blitum L.) and Jobyo (Gynadropsis gynandra L.), arranged in completely randomized (CR) design with three replicates. Results showed that Nakati was more profitable when grown for leafy compared to seed production with benefit: cost ratio (BCR) 9.2 and 4.0 for leafy and seed, respectively. Bugga for seed was more profitable compared to leafy production (BCR 18.0 and 2.7 for seed and leafy, respectively). Growing Jobyo for seed was more profitable than leafy production (BCR 14.9, 2.4 for seed and leafy, respectively). Growing indigenous vegetables (IVs) for seed in mixed broadcast system, out of the three IVs farmers stand to economically maximize benefits for one crop (BCR 0.9, 1.7 and 10.2 for Bugga, Nakati and Jobyo, respectively) compared to pure stand and in lines (BCR 18.0, 4.2 and 14.9 for Bugga, Nakati and Jobyo, respectively). Thus, famers stand to benefit more if they grow IVs as pure stand and in lines as opposed to mixed and broadcast, whether for leafy or seed production.