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Participatory Variety Selection for enhanced promotion and adoption of improved finger millet varieties: A case for Singida and Iramba Districts in Central Tanzania

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/10549/
 
Title Participatory Variety Selection for enhanced promotion and adoption of improved finger millet varieties: A case for Singida and Iramba Districts in Central Tanzania
 
Creator Ojulong, H
Letayo, E
Sakwera, L
Ziwa, -
Mgonja, F
Sheunda, P
Kibuka, J
Otwani, D
Audi, P
Mgonja, M
Manyasa, E O
 
Subject Crop Improvement
Finger Millet
Tanzania
African Agriculture
 
Description Participatory variety selection (PVS) is an approach which provides a wide choice of varieties to
farmers to evaluate in their own environment using their own resources for increasing production.
It enhances farmer’s access to diverse crop varieties, increases production and ensures food security
and helps faster dissemination and adoption of pre and released varieties. It allows varietal selection
in targeted areas at cost-effective and timely manner and helps promotion of community seed
production and community seed banks. Therefore, a variety developed through PVS usually meets
demand of different stakeholders. Farmers in Singida and Iramba districts in central Tanzania were
found to be growing land races which were low yielding, long maturing, drought and disease susceptible,
as no variety had previously been released in Tanzania. Through PVS a broader choice of varieties
that matched farmer needs in adaptation and quality traits was offered for evaluation. As such PVS was
used to introduce, evaluate, release and promote for adoption finger millet varieties in Central and
Northern Tanzania. Farmers selected and adopted new varieties of a higher utility (a combination of
improved agronomic traits, higher yield, and improved quality). Through PVS Tanzania released
her first finger millet varieties (U15 and P224). Adoption of the varieties was very high as farmers
associated with the varieties; and affordable high quality seed was made available as Quality Declared
Seed (QDS) produced by the target farmer groups. Preferred traits differed between the gender groups;
women preferred risk averting traits like short duration, drought tolerance, compact heads and
disease resistance while male preferred market related traits (high yield, brown colour and big head.
 
Publisher Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM)
 
Date 2017
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
Rights —
 
Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/10549/1/Participatory%20Variety%20Selection%20for%20enhanced%20promotion.pdf
Ojulong, H and Letayo, E and Sakwera, L and Ziwa, - and Mgonja, F and Sheunda, P and Kibuka, J and Otwani, D and Audi, P and Mgonja, M and Manyasa, E O (2017) Participatory Variety Selection for enhanced promotion and adoption of improved finger millet varieties: A case for Singida and Iramba Districts in Central Tanzania. African Journal of Rural Development, 2 (1). pp. 77-93. ISSN 2415-2838