Abstract
Maize is one of the most important food crops in Ghana even though its production has not reached self sufficiency levels. Drought and striga infestation are among the most important production constraints of maize in Ghana. Promising high yielding, drought and striga tolerant maize varieties are being evaluated by CSIR and IITA in participatory on-farm trials and demonstrations. These varieties however need to meet farmers’ varietal preferences in order for them to adopt. This study therefore sought to assess farmers’ preference for the different drought tolerant maize varieties, and determine factors that influence their choices. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to test the level of agreement between farmers on their preferences. The ordered logistic regression was used to estimate the determinants of farmer’s preference using cross-sectional observations from 120 maize farmers in the Transitional and Savannah zones of Ghana. Results indicate that maize varieties that are early maturing (2.38) and drought tolerant (2.45) were most preferred by farmers. Area under maize cultivation, fertilizer usage and family size are the factors that were found to influence farmers’ preference for improved maize varieties. These factors should therefore be considered in varietal promotion. Key words: Drought tolerant, farmers’ preferences, determinant, savannah and transition zones of Ghana, ordered logit.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important food cereals in the developing world
It was observed that most varieties perceived by farmers to be traditional were developed or introduced by research even though in some cases they were developed a long time ago and have been recycled by farmers over the years
Even though majority (80%) of the sample were still cultivating an improved maize variety, only 25% reported knowing the difference between hybrids and openly pollinated varieties (OPVs)
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important food cereals in the developing world. It is the largest staple crop in Ghana, and the most widely cultivated crop accounting for 50 to 60% of total cereal production. Maize is the largest commodity crop in the country second only to cocoa The importance of maize to the economy of Ghana cannot be overemphasized. The crop is a major source of food, feed and cash for many households in Ghana. Not self sufficient in the production of maize because its production is faced with a number of constraints including
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