Participatory farmer evaluation of stem borer tolerant maize varieties in three maize growing ecologies of Kenya

Insect resistant maize for Africa (IRMA) project aims at developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce grain losses due to insect pests. As part of incorporating farmers' perceptions to improve the adoption of the developed varieties, participatory approaches were adopted....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:African journal of agricultural research 2011-07, Vol.6 (13), p.3021-3028
Main Authors: Ouma, JO, Odendo, M, Bett, C, De Groote, H, Mugo, S, Mutinda, C, Gethi, J, Njoka, S, Ajanga, S, Shuma, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy
Corn
Ecology
Farmers
Insects
Science and Technology
Statistical analysis
Zea mays
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Summary:Insect resistant maize for Africa (IRMA) project aims at developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce grain losses due to insect pests. As part of incorporating farmers' perceptions to improve the adoption of the developed varieties, participatory approaches were adopted. The paper analyses farmer's preferences of maize germplasm developed through conventional breeding. This paper uses data collected from evaluations conducted at the end of 2006 April and October rains season. Nine stem borer resistant maize varieties were evaluated alongside six commercial checks in the moist transitional zones (East and West) at taselling and harvest stage, while in the dry transitional zone and dry mid altitude zones, six new varieties were evaluated together with four commercial checks at harvest stage. Each variety was assessed on a scale of 1(very poor) to 5 (very good) based on key criteria generated in earlier group discussions with farmers and overall score.
ISSN:1991-637X
1991-637X
DOI:10.5897/AJAR10.449