Assessment of avocado grafting practices and propagules quality against minimum certification standards in Tanzania
Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is a promising cash crop in Tanzania, but reliance on poor quality, noncertified propagules hampers the market potential. The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) has established minimum certification standards for nursery-propagated avocado plants...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Food & Agriculture |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311932.2024.2447895 |
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| Summary: | Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is a promising cash crop in Tanzania, but reliance on poor quality, noncertified propagules hampers the market potential. The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) has established minimum certification standards for nursery-propagated avocado plants to enhance the seedling quality. This study evaluated current grafting practices and propagule quality against TOSCI standards across three regions: Morogoro, Mbeya, and Njombe, involving 90 randomly selected avocado seedling growers. Recent findings indicate that 40%, 98.9%, 7.8%, 63.3%, 96.7%, 98.9%, and 84.4% of growers adhered to recommended nursery isolation distances, utilized local market seeds for rootstock, treated seeds before prepared media with a mixture of soil and organic matter, did not sterilize grafting equipment, used healthy rootstock, selected scions from orchards younger than seven years, respectively. Based on current grafting practices 37.8% and 64.4% of participants adhered to the recommended rootstock diameter and the specified size for polythene bags. In contrast, the grafting point heights in all three regions conformed to the established standards. For pathogenic fungal 37.8% and 33.3% of potting soil samples tested positive for Phytophthora cinnamomi and Fusarium oxysporum, respectively. These results underscore the need for improved education and extension services to foster adherence to TOSCI standards, ultimately enhancing the quality of avocado seedling production in Tanzania. |
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| ISSN: | 2331-1932 |