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African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 1 (5), pp. 143-150, December
2006
ISSN
1991- 637X© 2006 Academic Journals
Full
Length Research Paper
Farmer evaluation of improved soybean
varieties being screened in five locations in Kenya: Implications for
research and development
Jonas Chianu1*, Bernard Vanlauwe1, John Mukalama1,
Akin Adesina2, Nteranya Sanginga1
1Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility institute of the
International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT), Nairobi, Kenya.
2Rockefeller Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya
*Corresponding author’s Email:
j.chianu@cgiar.org.
Accepted 10
November, 2006
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In
order to determine the improved soybean varieties that if recommended to
the farmers would have a high probability of adoption, a farmer
participatory approach was used to evaluate 12 soybean varieties at full
podding in five locations (Oyani, Riana, Kasewe, Akiites, and Mabole) in
western Kenya. These comprised of 11 improved varieties (TGx1871-12E,
TGx1895-4F, TGx1895-33F, TGx1895-49F, TGx1878-7E, TGx1893-7F, TGx1893-10F,
TGx1740-2F, TGx1448-2E, NAMSOY 4m, and MAKSOY 1n) and one local variety (Nyala).
Farmers generated all the 17 criteria for use in the evaluation, with
researchers only facilitating. One hundred and two farmers (52% females)
participated in the evaluation. A scoring matrix was employed to
articulate the results. Data analysis was done using Microsoft Excel. This
paper shows that of the seven dual-purpose varieties tested in all the
five locations, only TGx1740-2F was acceptable in all. Some varieties were
acceptable in specific locations: TGx1895-49F in Oyani, Nyala in
Kasewe, TGx1448-2E in Akiites, and TGx1893-7F in Mabole. This result shows
that to avoid low adoption, a blanket recommendation of varieties that
were accepted only in selected locations must be avoided. TGx1740-2F was
the only variety that could be recommended across locations and that was
clearly better than the existing farmers’ own variety, Nyala.
Key
Words: Adoption, Effective recommendations, Improved soybean varieties,
Participatory farmer evaluation, Western Kenya.
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