Abstract
BackgroundGroundnut is an important legume crop in Togo. However, groundnut yield has been steadily decreasing for decades as a result of lack of organized breeding program to address production constraints. Though, low yielding varieties and late leaf spot have been often reported as the most important constraints, there is no documented evidence. Identifying and documenting the major production constraints is a prerequisite for establishing a good breeding program with clearly defined priority objectives and breeding strategies. Thus, the objectives of this study were to identify groundnut production constraints and assess farmers’ preferred traits.MethodsA participatory rural appraisal approach was used to collect data on agronomic practices, farmers’ preferences, and possible threats to production through individual and group interviews. Three regions and three villages per region were selected based on the representativeness of groundnut production systems. In each village, 20 farmers were randomly selected and interviewed; thus, a total of 180 farmers were interviewed. Content analysis was carried out for qualitative data and for quantitative data generated within and across regions, comparative descriptive statistics were carried out. Differences in perception and preferences were assessed using chi-square tests.ResultsThe study has revealed that, though there were some variation across the regions, traits pertaining to yield such as pod yield (66.66%) and pod size (12.12%) were the most important. Leaf spot diseases, rosette and peanut bud necrosis (37.77%) and insects such as pod sucking bug and bruchid (27.77%) were considered to be the most important constraints limiting groundnut production. Among diseases, farmers in all the three regions indicated that late leaf spot is of economic importance which they associated to various causes such as maturity, drought, or insects. No gender differences were observed for the perception of constraints and groundnut traits preferences. Land size is significantly influenced by age and gender. Besides, farmers have pointed the lack of improved varieties and the unavailability of groundnut seeds highlighting the necessity of a sustainable groundnut seed system linked with a strong breeding program.ConclusionThis study has enabled understanding of the farming practices, constraints, and farmers preferred characteristics, thus providing the basis for a participatory breeding program in Togo which should consider that farmers perceive low yielding varieties and diseases as major constraints to production.
Highlights
Groundnut is an important legume crop in Togo
The study revealed complex farming practices that show diversity and rationality and untidy and unsystematic practices. These farming practices may partly be responsible for the decreasing yield observed in groundnut production in Togo
Education level affects the adoption of new technologies, and the strategies for introduction of new varieties and new agronomic practices should address the issue as farmers in Togo are illiterate
Summary
Groundnut is an important legume crop in Togo. groundnut yield has been steadily decreasing for decades as a result of lack of organized breeding program to address production constraints. The objectives of this study were to identify groundnut production constraints and assess farmers’ preferred traits. The objective of almost all the participatory breeding approaches has been to incorporate farmers’ knowledge and preferences into the breeding program in order to develop new varieties that will not be rejected by them [8,9,10,11]. Some studies have noted gender difference in farmers’ preferences in many African countries [14,15,16,17] It is important, to have in mind the role played by men and women when conducting a survey for the identification of production constraints and farmers’ desired traits [17]. Addressing gender differences in implementing agricultural project results in greater impact on farmers’ livelihood [18] as gender affects adoption of new agricultural technologies [13, 19]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have