Abstract
Farmers participation in the process of on-farm research does not only enrich the speed up of information gathering, but also result in large scale adoption of the product of research. A small farmer deals with a variable environment and has multiple production objectives that will affect his or her choice of crops and selection of genotypes. In areas where farmers are unfamiliar with available improved varieties, there is need of conducting effective variety evaluations with farmers. The usefulness of the participatory approach for identifying cultivars for harsh environments, which are difficult to replicate in research stations, has been recognized by the crop breeders. Participatory plant breeding/selection has shown success in identifying more number of preferred varieties by farmers in shorter time (than the conventional system), in accelerating their dissemination and increasing cultivar diversity. This paper describes how plant breeders and farmers worked together to test and selected farmers preferred pearl millet varieties; PE05684 and PE05532 from a diverse pearl millet accessions in a participatory varietal selection program conducted across some states of Northern Nigeria. Key words: Diversity, pearl millet, participatory plant breeding, varietal selection, ranking.
Highlights
This paper describes how plant breeders and farmers worked together to test and selected farmers preferred pearl millet varieties; PE05684 and PE05532 from a diverse pearl millet accessions in a participatory varietal selection program conducted across some states of Northern Nigeria
This paper describes how plant breeders and farmers worked together to test and selected farmers preferred pearl millet varieties from a range of pearl millet accessions in a participatory varietal selection program
Result from priority ranking from some selected sampled locations (Tikau, Gubio and Gwoza) showed that earliness and yield ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively across all the sites (Table 1) due to the following reasons: (1) For pearl millet, it is the first crop to be planted at the onset of rains and later intercropped with either cowpea or groundnut
Summary
Br.] provides diet for over 40 million people who live especially in the arid and semi arid regions of Northern Nigeria. With an average annual production of 3.8 million tons, Nigeria ranks second after India in global millet production (FAO, 2012). In Nigeria, the crop can be used for a variety of purposes. Addressing poverty in rural Semi-Arid West-Africa and especially Nigeria requires interventions in the dry-land cereal production systems that continue to provide the basis of life in the region. Farmers’ prospects are more at risk in this zone due to both the vagaries of weather as well as their disadvantaged access to markets, especially opportunities for marketing grain surpluses which hinder adoption of improved varieties. In areas where farmers are unfamiliar with available improved varieties, there is need of conducting effective variety evaluations with
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