From this study the following conclusions were drawn:
1. There was a low rate of improved seed utilization, especially hybrids among small- scale farmers. Only about 27% of the households planted improved seed in 2007/08 season. From this proportion, only 12% was hybrid seed while 15% were OPVs with low yield potential. Several factors appeared to influence the low adoption of new technologies, including improved varieties and fertilizer in the three districts. Among them were; (i) unavailability of basic inputs suppliers at community level, (ii) lack of knowledge among farmers about improved varieties; (iii) high prices of improved seed that farmers did not afford due to low cash incomes. There are other several socio- economic factors influencing negatively on community development, which reflected the actual level of development of each district and the country in general.
These challenges need addressing to provide an enabling environment for crop
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production. Varieties that are more productive and fertilizer among other inputs should be made available to the farmers.
2. Farmers were aware of the major biotic, abiotic and socio-economic constraints that contributed negatively to low maize productivity in their particular agro-ecology.
Farmers were also capable of discriminating different constraints according to importance for their communities. Downy mildew, drought, cutworm and stem borer were the most important constraints for lowland environments, while input availability (seed and fertilizer), ear rot, turcicum leaf blight and gray leaf spot diseases and low soil fertility were most important in high altitude environments. Different intervention approaches are, therefore, required for the low and mid-altitude ecologies.
3. In general, farmers need maize seed from varieties that can overcome the prevalent production constraints and meet their consumption needs and preferences. The most important variety selection criteria were grain yield, maturing cycle (short maturing), white grain and hardness of endosperm (preferably white and flint), tolerance to drought or low soil fertility and resistance to the local diseases and post harvest pests. These desired traits would be considered in setting priority objectives for the breeding programmes, for the lowland and mid altitude environments in Mozambique.
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