Musungu, Sally; Mumford, John; Taulya, Godfrey (2026): Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) pseudostem damage, crop traits and management practices from East Africa Highland banana farms in the Mt Elgon region, Mbale District, Uganda (2021) [dataset]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.989648

This dataset contains farm-level measurements of East African Highland Banana crop morphology, banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) pseudostem damage, and associated management practices collected from banana farms in the Mt Elgon area of Mbale District, eastern Uganda, in 2021. Surveyed banana farms are located at elevations between 1700 and 2200 m above sea level. The dataset includes spatial attributes (such as village, district, latitude, longitude, altitude, and coordinate uncertainty) and biological variables, including pseudostem morphology (upper and lower inner and outer diameters) and pseudostem banana weevil damage (%) recorded separately for inner and outer tissues at both upper and lower stem sections. Management and household variables include the number of farm visits, the type of farm labour, manure application, pesticide use, other banana weevil management practices, intercropping status and type, slope type, farm age (years), farmer age (years), and farmer-reported preferred and least-preferred banana varieties with reasons for their rankings. Data were collected during on-farm field visits. Pseudostem diameters were measured directly on freshly cut pseudostems with the cross-section exposed, using a graduated measuring ruler. Pseudostem damage was assessed by cutting the pseudostem and visually estimating the proportion of tissue damaged by banana weevil larvae at each stem section. Management, socio-economic, and preference variables were obtained through structured farmer interviews conducted during the same visits. Farm locations were recorded at the village level and linked to geographic coordinates derived from open-source geospatial data, primarily OpenStreetMap. Coordinates represent village-level centroids and are reported in the World Geodetic System 1984 coordinate reference system. A coordinate uncertainty of 1 km was applied to village centroids to reflect spatial generalisation and protect participant confidentiality. Where villages could not be uniquely resolved, district-level reference coordinates were used with an expanded uncertainty of 5 km to reflect reduced spatial precision. The dataset is intended to support analysis of interactions between banana weevil pest damage and environmental conditions in a mountain ecosystem. It is also intended to document the distribution of East African Highland Banana crop varieties in Uganda's high-altitude production areas.

Author's contribution:

Sally Musungu - Project design, acquisition, processing, analyses and compilation of data

The late Professor John Mumford - Project design **

Dr Godfrey Taulya - ** Funding to support data acquisition