Establishing a successful green charcoal value-chain is expected to create an extraordinary demand for bamboo seedlings. Currently, all bamboo seedlings in Uganda are generated by the slow vegetative propagation. There is limited research on micropropagation methods in Uganda hence fundamental understanding of the factors that determine micropropagation success in Uganda and for that matter East Africa is missing. This research is therefore aimed at “Establish capacity for micropropagation (laboratory and skill-sets for plant tissue culture) seedlings generation for faster and more efficient generation of bamboo at UCU” through developing and availing the reliable protocols to follow during bamboo Micropropagation in Uganda. This study focused on; (i) Establishing an effective sterilization protocol for bamboo explants, (ii) Shoot multiplication and rooting and (iii) Acclimatization and field demonstration. From this study, a clear protocol for sterilizing bamboo species during micropropagation has been optimized. Success rate for bamboo species increased from 0% to 47.32% when 3 mg/l of mercury chloride was used. A clear protocol for shoot multiplication has been established. For more shoots in bamboo, 5.0 mg/l of BAP (shooting hormone) was found to be more efficient for the highest frequency of shoot bud induction and multiplication with the average number 9 shoots/explant in Dendrocalamus asper and 6 shoots/explant in Bambusa vulgaris green (BV4).
Prof. William Kisaalita – PI
Ms. Winnie Namutosi – Co-PI