Date post: | 26-May-2015 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | cimmyt-int |
View: | 452 times |
Download: | 0 times |
Identification of Farmers’ Preferred Varieties through Participatory Variety Selection Approaches in Western Hills of Nepal
KB Koirala, YR Pandey, DB Gurung, SR Subedi and S Thapa
Introduction
Maize is the most important crop in the hills of Nepal and ranks first in terms of area and production
Maize contributes about 3.15% in national gross domestic product (GDP) and 9.5% in agricultural gross domestic product (AGDP)
Maize occupies 40.6% area of the total crops in the hills
It contributes 43.5% of total edible food production
70.23% of the total maize is grown in the hills
Yield difference between improved and local maize is 687 kg/ha at the same level of management
Out of the total maize area in the hills (614843 ha), 34.14% belongs to western hills with 2356 kg/ha productivity
86.77% maize is utilized for human consumption
Opportunities have not been given to farmers to select varieties of their choices
Materials and Methods
Varieties identified promising and newly released were tested in farmers’ fields to get feedback and identify farmers’ preferred varieties in different trials:
I. Farmers' field trials (FFT):
6-8 varieties, 6 rows of 3m long, 75cm x 25cm, N:P:K:120:60:40, 5-7 replications
II. Informal research and development (IRD) and Farmers’ acceptance test (FAT)
Activity FAT IRD
Variety FS FS
Manakamana 1, 3, 5, 6,
Deuti, Poshilo 1
Manakamana 1, 3, 4, 5 ,6,
Deuti, Poshilo 1
(S99TLWQ-HG-AB)
District Gorkha, Lamjung, Tanahun,
Kaski, Parbat, Baglung,
Gulmi, Myagdi,
Arghakhanchi
Gorkha, Syangja, Palpa,
Gulmi and Arghakhanchi
Set dist. 1800 750
FBack Rec 993 643
IRD Distribution
V1 L V3 L V4 L V2 L V5 L
Mother-Baby Trials
Farm 1 Farm 2 Farm 3 Farm 4 Farm 5
V2 L V5 L V3 L V5 L V4 L
Farm 6 Farm 7 Farm 8 Farm 9 Farm 10
V1 L V3 L Farm 11 Farm 12
MOTHER TRIALS (MTs) Var. 1 Var. 2 Var. 3 Var. 4 Var. 5 Local
Farm 26 Var. 1 Var. 2 Var. 3 Var. 4 Var. 5 Local
Farm 27 BABY TRAILS (BTs)
V1 L V3 L V2 L V5 L V4 L Farm 13 Farm 14 Farm 15 Farm 16 Farm 17
V4 L V4 L V2 L V5 L V1 L
Farm 18 Farm 19 Farm 20 Farm 21 Farm 22
V1 L V3 L V2 L
Farm 23 Farm 24 Farm 25
Figure 1: Layout plan of a mother-baby trail of five varieties (improved) and
one local in five farms (households), V1-V5 = New QPM varieties, L = Local
variety compared with V1-V5
Objectives
Disseminating improved released and pipeline maize varieties in the western hills of Nepal focusing DAGs
Identifying farmers’ preferred maize varieties through feedback given by the farmers on various traits
Manakamana 5
Manakamana 6
Traits compared by the farmers (Household Level Questionnaires)
Germination (1=better, 2=same, 3=worse)
Plant height (1=shorter, 2=same, 3=taller)
Traits compared by the farmers
Insect/pests problem (1=less, 2=same, 3=more)
Lodging problem (1=less, 2=same, 3=more)
Stay green character (1=stay green, 2=same, 3=dry)
Maturity (1=early, 2=same, 3=late)
• Grain yield (1=higher, 2=same, 3=lower)
Traits compared by the farmers
Taste of roasted green cob (1=better, 2=same, 3=worse)
Grit recovery (1=more, 2=same, 3=less)
Taste of grits, bread, roasted grains (1=better, 2=same, 3=worse)
Identifying Farmers’ Preferences
Traits compared by the farmers
Grain size (1=larger, 2=same, 3=smaller)
Store grain pests (1=less, 2=same, 3=more)
Finally, Focus group discussion is organized, 5-6 farmers in a group, Separate male and female groups to avoid mail dominance during discussion. Same questions as in HLQ
Field Visit Field Visit
Discussion with Farmers Field Visit Field Visit
FGD
Discussion with farmers
SN Entry
50%
silk Plt Ht Er Ht kg/ha
1 Across 9942 x Across 9944 77 225 109 3953
2 Open ended White Hill Pool 76 232 108 3828
7 Farmers' local (Thulo Pahenlo) 80 253 125 3468
6 Deuti 76 214 99 3191
Grand mean 77 215 97 3283
CV (%) 4.72 13.63 21.96 18.7
F Test ns ** ** ns
LSD(0.05) - 38.3 27.8 -
CFFT Full Season (Combined over locations)
Ent: 7, Rep:5
MT FS, Palpa and Gulmi Entry: 7, Replication:4
Entry
Pl Ht GY, kg/ha
WF WoF WF WoF
Deuti 270 267 6035 4808
Manakamana 6 263 269 4824 4302
Mana 3 286 277 4713 4663
Poshilo Makai 1 243 240 4128 3879
F. Local 232 345 3363 3223
Baby combined over locations
Trait
Mana 3 Mana 4 Mana 5 Mana 6 Deuti Posh 1
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Pl Ht 23 0 2 22 1 2 17 6 2 20 5 0 22 2 1 18 5 2
IP Prob 14 11 0 16 9 0 11 14 0 11 14 0 8 17 0 14 9 2
Lod Prb 23 1 1 19 3 3 20 1 4 19 3 3 22 3 0 22 2 1
SG char 19 4 2 18 6 1 22 2 1 17 3 5 23 2 0 18 3 4
Maturity 20 5 0 17 6 2 16 9 0 19 6 0 17 6 2 20 5 0
Prodn 20 5 0 18 6 1 23 2 0 19 5 1 19 5 1 19 4 2
Stor IP 7 18 0 4 21 0 4 21 0 8 17 0 8 17 0 6 19 0
Pln Nt Yr 18 7 0 20 3 2 21 4 0 22 2 1 22 2 1 16 9 0
*1: Better than local, 2: Similar to local, 3: Worse than local; **: Number of respondents supporting the point
IRD (FS) Palpa
Trait
Mana 5 Mana 6 Deuti
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Pl Ht 67 8 3 55 5 1 15 3 2
IP Problem 49 11 18 53 4 4 9 7 4
Lod Problem 63 7 8 50 10 1 17 1 2
SG character 68 4 6 45 9 7 16 2 2
Maturity 49 21 8 48 9 4 8 6 6
Production 69 7 2 58 2 1 18 0 2
Storage IP 55 13 10 51 7 3 10 2 8
Plan Nxt Yr 71 2 5 53 6 2 14 4 2
Total rec 78 61 20
Farmers’ Training
S01SIWQ-3 Arun 2
Farmers’ variety Poshilo Makai 1 Deuti
Poshilo Makai 1
Deuti
Poshilo Makai 1 Manakamana 3
Manakamana 6
Manakamana 1
Manakamana 6
Manakamana 5
Arun 2
S01SIWQ-3
Technology dissemination through press
Conclusion Participatory variety selection is most effective for
identification, promotion and dissemination of farmers’ preferred improved variety within a possible shortest period of time, and helps reach to unreached
Majority of the farmers preferred Mana-3, Deuti, Mana 5, Mana 6 and Poshilo 1 for their higher yield, non-lodging, stay green character, bold grain size, acceptable colour and taste.
Majority of the respondents have planned to plant these improved varieties in coming years too.