Crop Protection Programme
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CROP PROTECTION PROGRAMME The development of management strategies for maize streak virus disease R7429 (ZA0310) FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT 1 April 1999 – 30 June 2000 Professor R J Cooter Natural Resources Institute University of Greenwich Page Plates …………………………………………………………………………. (i) Contents ………………………………………………………………………. 1 Acronyms and Dedication……………………………………………………… 3 Executive summary…………………………………………………………… 4 Background…………………………………………………………………….. 4 Project Purpose……………………………………………………………….. 5 Expected Impact……………………………………………………………….. 6 Research Activities……………………………………………………………. 7 1.1 Monitor seed production activities in Namukubembe, Bugodi and selected FOSEM sites over the 1999a and 1999b seasons ……………………………………………………… 8 1.2 Facilitate farmer-researcher interaction with a view to improving the seed production system …………………………. 8 1.3 Describe farmers’ existing systems for selecting and producing maize seed ………………………………………………. 9 2. On-station trial comparing farmer-produced seed with certified seed ………………………………………………….. 9 3. Provide appropriate training of village-based trainers at Namulonge ……………………………………………… 10 3.1 Pre-training…………………………………………………………. 10 3.2 NAARI training workshop ………………………………………… 10 3.3 Village-based training ……………………………………………… 10 3.4 The use of video ……………………………………………………. 10 4. Monitoring performance of village-based trainers as an indicator of whether the approach is appropriate as a means of scaling-up ………………………………. 11 Outputs Output 1: Improved farmer seed production system developed and validated …………………………………………………. 11 1.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………… 11 1.2 Farmers’ systems for selecting and improving seed prior to training …………………………………………………………. 12 1.3 Options for improving farmer produced seed management ………. 14 1.4 Seed production activities over three seasons in Namukubembe, Bugodi and other FOSEM sites ……………………………………. 14 1.5 Outcomes over three seasons ………………………………………. 14 1.6 Discussion of Issues, Constraints and Opportunities ………………. 15 Output 2. Maize seed quality verification ……………………………….. 16 Output 3. Farmer capacity to improve their own maize seed through acquisition of researcher knowledge validated ………………….. 17 3.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………….. 17 3.2 Description of the process to provide farmers with researcher knowledge ………………………………………………………………… 17 3.2.1 Pre-training ………………………………………………………… 17 3.2.2 NAARI training ……………………………………………………. 17 3.2.3 Village-based training ……………………………………………… 18 3.2.3.1 Trainers’ perspectives on village training ……………………….. 18 1 3.2.3.2 Perceptions of maize types ……………………………………………. 19 3.2.3.3 Trainees perspectives on village training ……………………………… 20 Participation / access to training ………………………………………. 20 Trainees’ expectations ………………………………………………… 21 Trainees’ understanding ………………………………………………. 21 Trainees - future plans ………………………………………………… 22 Training video presentations in parishes through commercial video outfits ……………………………………..………… 22 3.3 Does acquisition of researcher knowledge improve farmer capacity to improve their own seed? …………………….……….... 23 4. Potential for scaling out of improved farmer-based seed production assessed and promoted ………………………………………… 24 4.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 24 4.2 Potential for scaling-out ……………………………………………………. 24 4.2.1 Which farmers were trained in Bukanga and Buwaya sub-counties?…….. 24 4.2.1 Farmer Capacity for training …………………………………………….. 25 4.2.2 Use of video for scaling out ……………………………………………… 26 4.2.3 Number of farmers buying and producing maize seed ………………….. 26 4.2.4 Other issues ………………………………………………………………. 26 Contribution of Outputs …………………………………………………………… 27 Dissemination outputs ……………………………………………………………. 28 Annex 1: Farmer seed management practices: A case in Iganga district ………….. 30 Annex 1: Appendix 1 Maize seed management questionnaire, 1999 …………….. 41 Annex 1: Appendix 2 Checklist on farmer maize seed management ……………… 43 Annex 2: Maize seed selection by Ugandan smallholder farmers and its effect on resistance to maize streak virus …………………………….. 44 Annex 3: Maize seed Management Questionnaire, 1999 …………………………. 58 Annex 4: Community seed production in Iganga District ………………………… 60 Annex 5: Management strategies for MSVD:Farmer-based seed production in Iganga District- final evaluation: village based trainers ..… 64 Annex 5: Appendix 2 Bukanga sub-county farmer perceptions of maize types in Iganga ……………………………………………………. 80 Annex 5: Appendix 3 Buwaya sub-county farmer perceptions of maize types in Iganga ……………………………………………………. 84 Annex 6: Management Strategies for MSVD:Farmer-based seed production in Iganga District - final evaluation: trainees ……………..… 89 Annex 6: Appendix 1 Village-based maize seed production: survey of farmers trained by village-based trainers ……………………………………..… 97 Annex 6: Appendix 2 Farmer Group Questionnaire ……………………………… 99 Annex 6: Appendix 3 Trainees response to ‘What was missing from the training?’. 100 Annex 6: Appendix 5 Trainees response to the question ‘What will you different in the way you produce maize after the training?’ ……………. 102 Annex 7: Seed types brought by farmers during the Group evaluation of the seed works in Bukanga ……………………………..… 104 Annex 8: Training of village-based trainers (VBTs) on maize seed production.. 106 Annex 9: Quality of farmers’ maize seed ……………………………………….… 124 2 Acronyms CBO Community-based organisation DFI District Farm Institute FOSEM Food Security and Marketing for Smallholder Farmers LC3 Elected Local Councillor, Level 3; a sub-county leader MSV maize streak virus MSVD maize streak virus disease NAARI Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Production Research Institute NARO National Agricultural Research Organisation [of Uganda] NGO Non-governmental organisation OPV open-pollinated variety VBT village-based trainers Dedication On behalf of the project team, participant farmers and their families involved in this project I would like to dedicate the work reported here to the memory of Grace Acola who died on 1st July 2000 after a short illness. It was largely through her enthusiasm, wonderful personality and dedication that the rest of the team embarked on the project and were carried along to its successful completion. We hope that others will benefit from her efforts and that the approach adopted by the project team will prove to be a useful model for other similar initiatives in the future. She will remain with us in our memories. Dick Cooter 3 Executive Summary [A very brief summary of the purpose of the project, the research activities, the outputs of the project, and the contribution of the project towards DFID’s development goals. (Up to 500 words)] Streak-resistant cultivars provide an effective means of controlling maize streak virus disease (MSVD) in many farming systems in Africa. In Uganda, the National Cereals Programme has released the streak resistant cultivar Longe 1 for use by low-input subsistence farmers. This cultivar is an open-pollinated variety (OPV) and should therefore be able to be propagated more-or-less indefinitely by farmers. Despite this, socio-economic studies during an earlier phase of the maize streak project highlighted the importance of seed quality and availability for farmers in managing maize streak disease. Commercially available seed was reported by farmers to be of unreliable or poor quality and expensive. The project completed the validation of a system whereby farmers were provided with knowledge of how to produce good quality seed of a superior MSV-resistant maize variety (Longe 1) through researchers collaborating with an NGO and several community-based organisations with locally developed training materials and farmers trained as trainers. The quality of the maize seed produced by the farmers was validated by on-station trials and the efficiency of the various training methods used was assessed by interviewing participitants. A novel aspect of the training was to use a locally-produced video shown through existing mobile video TV systems which normally show popular video films in the villages. The study included an analysis of the current techniques used by farmers to maintain local landraces, both in terms of how these impact on the streak resistance and how traditional approaches can be incorporated beneficially into future seed production methods. Background [Information should include a description of the importance of the researchable constraint(s) that the project sought to address and a summary of any significant research previously carried out. Also, some reference to how the demand for the project was identified] Reports of the streak resistance of Longe 1 (hereafter referred to as Longe) seedstocks maintained by farmers gradually breaking down were identified in an earlier project (R6642). Likely causes were identified as: • crops of Longe were not isolated allowing cross-pollination with susceptible landraces. • farmers’ traditional seed selection criteria may not be neutral for MSV resistance and perhaps favour loss of MSV resistance. These observations led researchers and farmers to come to the consensus that a method was needed by which farmers could access good quality seed at a reasonable price, particularly seed of the open-pollinated varieties released by the Ugandan National Cereals Programme. As a consequence, in a pilot system farmers in two villages received Longe seed plus training in how to prevent contamination or other change of Longe seed stocks by use of 'bagging' of unfertilised maize ears and artificial pollination. Towards the end of R6642, the initial