CHAPTER 2: FARMER PERCEPTIONS ON MAIZE CULTIVARS IN THE
2.4 Discussion
Table 2.6: Mean rank values for preferred traits of stress tolerant cultivars from formal survey
Characteristic♣ District Overall Probability
Mutasa Chipinge Mutare General Traits
High yield 2.7 1.8 2.8 2.4 0.07
Maturity Period 3.2 2.5 2.6 2.8 0.35
Drought stress tolerance 5.3 3.1 3.8 4.1 0.01
Low soil fertility tolerance 5.0 5.6 4.0 4.9 0.00
Grain weevil resistance 3.6 4.3 6.7 4.9 0.00
Cob size 7.0 6.3 3.6 5.5 0.00
Disease resistance 3.8 4.6 7.9 5.6 0.00
Number of cobs per plant 8.4 7.1 6.0 7.1 0.00
Cob husk cover 6.5 7.7 8.3 7.5 0.00
Pounding ability 9.6 10.0 8.8 9.4 0.02
Ear or Cob Aspect
Long thin 1.6 2.2 1.5 1.7 0.00
Medium 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 0.99
Long fat 2.3 1.6 2.5 2.2 0.00
Grain Texture
Flint 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.7 0.49
Intermediate 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.7 0.98
Dent 2.5 2.6 2.5 2.5 0.71
♣Characteristic with smallest mean rank is the most important in each column.
Table 7: Mean rank values for preferred traits of cultivars from focus group discussion
Trait Nyakumanwa Kondo Changazi Key
Informants
High yield 3 1 3 3
Drought tolerance 1 2 1 1
Early maturity 2 3 2 2
Resistance to insects 4 4 - 4
Disease resistance 5 5 - 5
Cob size - 5 - 5
Low soil fertility tolerance 5 5 - 5
Scores used were: 1 = most important, 5 =least important; - = No information available
can be effectively transmitted via the radio. It is difficult to explain the low average land area that is planted to pearl-millet in Mutasa. In Chipinge, the traditional authorities, especially in Chief Musikavanhu’s area of jurisdiction prohibited pearl- millet cultivation. According to key informants, pearl-millet was regarded as taboo in the area, because the chief does not eat pearl-millet food or beer brewed from it.
Farmers in Mutasa reported relatively higher grain yield than the other areas under study. These farmers sold at least a 100 kg each of grain indicating that the area has the potential to produce surplus grain despite the late season drought. Differences in productivity among the districts could also be explained by the different rainfall patterns, nature and intensity of drought in the area. Mutasa experienced moderate late season drought, while the other two districts reported severe drought at anthesis, which is a very critical stage in grain yield formation. Flowering is the most critical stage associated with greatest yield loss, especially when drought occurs during the reproductive stage (Cakir, 2004; Campos et al., 2004). This has serious implications for food security in the area, given that average household grain consumption was estimated at 40 kg per month. An average household with eight people (Appendix 2) required at least 480 kg of grain per annum, which is above the average yield or total production in Chipinge and Mutare West in 2004. This suggests that there was serious grain deficit in Chipinge and Mutare West in 2004.
In Mutasa, farmers mentioned low soil fertility as a major production constraint, which together with late season drought, could partly explain the low yields obtained in the area (578 to 745 kg/ha in Table 2.3) compared to the national average for Zimbabwe (±1000 kg/ha). This district was relatively more productive than Chipinge and Mutare West hence these farmers had a different perception on drought and low soil fertility.
Although they experience late season drought, they receive relatively higher rainfall early in the season that might cause some leaching of soil N, whereas less leaching is expected in the drier districts of Chipinge and Mutare West. Perhaps the natural floods that have occurred over the years, such as in 2000, deposited large and fertile silts in the lowland areas like Save Valley in Chipinge.
2.4.2 Preferred Traits and Maize Cultivars
Farmers’ strong preference for old hybrids of the 1970’s over the current new hybrids suggested that little progress has been made in breeding drought tolerant cultivars for deployment in these marginal areas. Breeders appear to have focussed on
breeding for high potential areas and disease resistance. Thus, there is need to refocus the breeding goals in order to find stress tolerant cultivars for production in marginal areas. Farmers’ high preference for their land-race “Chitonga”, suggested that scientists would make impact by improving or breeding from this cultivar, because it is already accepted in the area. Alternatively, breeders can incorporate the desired traits in other elite cultivars. Improvements would be aimed at reducing plant height and maturity period, so that it can fit into the ultra short seasons. The attributes to be maintained would be its flint grain texture and “good” taste. In addition this cultivar has to be evaluated for agronomic performance and study the genetic effects controlling yield and other traits under drought, which is prevalent in the area.
Although farmers indicated that they grew at least 10 kg of hybrid seeds (data not shown), it was not established whether they grew first (F1), second (F2) or later generations of the hybrids. The study could only speculate that few farmers were planting F2 hybrid grain as seed, because sixteen percent of farmers in Mutasa indicated that they grew farm saved seed. Unfortunately, hybrid vigour or heterosis that confers high yield in F1 hybrids declines sharply by over 50% in F2 and subsequent generations (Falconer, 1981). If farmers were growing F2 or later generations of hybrids, then this could partly explain the below national average yield in Mutasa and perhaps in the other districts too.
Non-preference of drought stress tolerant cultivars in Mutasa could be explained by the moderate drought stress, compared to severe stress in Chipinge and Mutare West. Given the differences in rainfall pattern, the results suggested that an early maturing cultivar would most likely escape late season drought in Mutasa, but would be affected by drought at flowering in Chipinge and Mutare West. Possibly because of excess production over consumption (requiring storage over extended periods) coupled with high relative humidity, farmers in Mutasa preferred cultivars with grain weevil resistance to those with drought stress tolerance. In addition, the high relative humidity and rainfall in Mutasa could also explain why these farmers preferred pest and disease resistance ahead of abiotic stress tolerance. Tolerance to low soil fertility would be equally important in Mutasa, because the high rainfall would result in leaching of nutrients from their soils. The leaching of soil nutrients would not be a major problem in the severely drought-prone Chipinge and Mutare West.
Alternatively, tolerance to low soil fertility would not be the priority because without
the soil. Thus, farmers in Mutare West showed their strong preference for drought stress tolerance ahead of even high yield potential.
Results indicated that farmers, especially in Mutasa and Chipinge, preferred a cultivar that would combine high yield potential and early maturity. The ultra short season (less than 90 days) in these areas indicated that early maturing cultivars with tolerance to drought stress at flowering would be suggested for deployment in Chipinge and Mutare West. Farmers’ quest for drought tolerant maize with a stress recovery mechanism similar to that of sorghum should be taken seriously. Apart from sorghum’s ability to produce extra tillers when rainfall resumes, it is suggested that there may be some genes that confer higher drought tolerance in sorghum than maize. Studies of locally adapted sorghum cultivars should be conducted to investigate the drought stress recovery mechanism, with a possibility of transferring the genes into locally adapted maize cultivars. In the absence of truly drought tolerant maize, farmers may be encouraged to grow more sorghum, especially in Chipinge as an interim measure. In Mutare West, farmers indicated that they grew more sorghum than maize; hence it would also be important to consider improving their sorghum cultivars. However, in the long term drought tolerant maize cultivars should be bred because farmers indicated strong desire to grow maize.
Apparently, farmers showed low concern about pounding ability and good husk cover, which contrasted sharply with previous studies in other areas. Banziger and de Meyer (2002) reported that farmers would prefer hard endosperm types for ease of pounding and good husk cover for protection against storage pests and ear rots.
The first contrast may be explained by the increased use of hammer mills, while the second by the relatively limited surplus grain demanding little or no storage at all.
However, farmers’ preference for early maturing cultivars was consistent with previous studies. Banziger and de Meyer (2002) reported that farmers would prefer early maturing cultivars because they can escape the late season drought. Farmers’
preference for long and thin cobs compared to long and fat cobs was rather difficult to explain. Scientists would expect farmers to have strong preference for long and fat cobs. However, their preference for semi-dent and flintier grain texture was consistent with previous studies in other areas of southern Africa (Banziger and de Meyer (2002), but differed from studies in Kenya (De Groote, 2000). De Groote (2000) reported that farmers in eastern Kenya were not interested in flintiness and cob length. This shows that farmers’ preferences are peculiar to their area and depend on the major prevailing constraint.