Chapter 2: Participatory study of pigeonpea farming system, landraces, and the preferred traits
2.2 Materials and methods
2.2.1 Description of the study area
The survey and germplasm collection were both conducted in the southern region of Malawi. The region is densely populated, with approximately 146 people km-2 (National Statistics Office, 1998), with an average farming family of five people (National Statistics Office, 2005). Pigeonpea forms part of the cropping system. The crop is regarded as a minor crop and is intercropped with major crops such as maize, cassava, and sorghum.
The crop is grown under diverse environmental conditions, from hot to cool areas, with altitude ranging from as low as 52 m above sea level (masl) along the Shire River, to as high as 1190 masl in hilly areas. Fusarium wilt is observed in almost all the fields with varying incidence levels.
2.2.2 Survey of pigeonpea production and marketing
In August-September of 2005, a survey was conducted in the southern region of Malawi because the region produces most of the nation’s pigeonpea. Using a purposive sampling procedure (Bailey, 1978; Peil, 1982; Kerlinger, 1985), a list of six major pigeonpea-growing districts was drawn up, namely, Balaka, Phalombe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, and Nsanje. One extension planning area (EPA) district-1 was
randomly chosen, for interviewing farmers (Salant and Dillman, 1994; Sapsford, 1999).
An EPA is the smallest agricultural unit in a district. Ten farmers were selected EPA-1, using a systematic sampling method. Farmers, every 5 km along accessible roads, were interviewed (Alreck and Settle, 1995; Sapsford, 1999). The survey was done in liaison with the plant pathology section of Bvumbwe Research Station of the Department of Agricultural Research and Technical Services, as well as the Department of Extension of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MOAFS). The survey team consisted of the principal researcher (plant breeder), the plant pathologist from MOAFS, and an extension agent from the EPA. Three separate questionnaires (Peil, 1982; Salant and Dillman, 1994) were designed to capture information from the different stakeholders, small-scale farmers, buyers and large-scale farmers (estates). A total of 62 farmers, (24 men and 38 women), were interviewed. The location of each farmer was recorded using a geographical positioning system (GPS) (Appendix 2.1). A structured questionnaire served as a guide to obtain consistent information on the problem of Fusarium wilt, pigeonpea production and usage.
Ten pigeonpea buyers, based in Blantyre, were interviewed to assess pigeonpea marketing constraints. The buyers were selected using the cluster sampling method (Peil, 1982; Kerlinger, 1985). All the ten buying companies were interviewed. Marketing managers or owners of the pigeonpea buying companies were interviewed on market preferences, limitations, and processing of pigeonpea.
Fourteen estates, where pigeonpea is used as part of the ration for the workers, were selected using a simple random sampling method (Gupta and Saxena, 2002; Sharma and Kumar, 2003). The questionnaire focussed on pigeonpea production, marketing, and use at estate level.
2.2.3 Pigeonpea germplasm collection
Germplasm collection was done in November 2004, just before the onset of the rains.
The survey was done in the six major pigeonpea growing districts of Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Mwanza, Nsanje, Thyolo, and Zomba. The districts were drawn up using a simple random sampling procedure (Bailey, 1978; Peil, 1982; Kerlinger, 1985). Ten farmers were targeted, using a systematic sampling method, where one farmer was
men and women selected at random) were interviewed. The location of each farmer was properly recorded, using a GPS. The germplasm collection team remained the same survey team as described in Section 2.2.2.
Figure 2.1: Interviewing a pigeonpea farmer in Mwanza district, Malawi
The germplasm collection involved designing guiding questions which involved some agronomic and pathology aspects of the landraces which could not be captured at that time of the year through a field visit. Information on the reaction of the cultivar to Fusarium wilt was needed to establish the reaction of the landrace, and also to make sure that already released varieties such as Sauma (ICP9145) and Kachangu (ICEAP00040) were not collected. At least 0.5 kg of seed was collected from the farmers during the survey. The seed (germplasm) was carefully labelled with a district code, germplasm number, and coordinates from the GPS. To avoid mixtures, no pigeonpea seed was bought from the market. Forty-three (43) pigeonpea landraces (germplasm) were collected from the 61 farmers. The germplasm was categorised into 15 groups by the PRA team, based on seed size and colour.
2.2.4 Farmers’ and buyers’ participatory variety selection (PVS)
Farmers were also involved in the variety selection following the germplasm collection using a spatial sampling method (Bailey, 1978; Peil, 1982; Kerlinger, 1985; Alreck and Settle, 1995). Focus groups comprising 30 farmers EPA-1 (Peil, 1982; Kerlinger, 1985;
Alreck and Settle, 1995) (Figure 2.2), were asked to rank the germplasm groups from the best to the worst and to select the best ten landraces from the collection, on a scale
of one to ten, giving reasons for their choices (Lourette and Smale, 2000). These landraces were coded AP, meaning ARET Pigeonpea. ARET stands for Agricultural Research and Extension Trust, the author’s employer. This exercise was repeated with farmers at three different areas, Dwale EPA in Thyolo, Dzaone EPA in Zomba and Mombezi EPA in Chiradzulu. Eighty-nine farmers recorded their data on a simple data sheet.
Figure 2.2: Some members of a focus group at the Extension Planning Area for participatory variety selection
Buyers play a crucial role in the marketing of pigeonpea, hence their involvement in the variety selection. Marketing managers or owners of buying companies (Section 2.2) were also interviewed on market preferences. They were requested to choose the best 10 landraces from the 15 germplasm groups collected from the farmers, giving reasons for their selections. The exercise thus compared and contrasted the preferences of the farmers and the trade. The guiding questions also looked into aspects of pigeonpea processing and marketing.
2.2.5 Data analysis
The statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) computer programme was used to analyse the data from the survey on pigeonpea production and marketing and
of the respondents were calculated. Frequencies attached to the ranking of each local landrace (germplasm group), during farmer participatory variety selection, were recorded. Ten landraces, with the best frequencies, were selected for the breeding programme.