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Status
of participatory varietal selection for rice in Nigeria and Mali.
R. .Guei, H.
Gridley, M. Jones & M. Worperies-Mura.
The
average rice production in Mali between 1995 and 1999 was 663,372 Mt
with an average import of 52,000 Mt. Although the latter represents only
8% of production it reflects a rise of over 100% from 1990. Nigeria
produces nearly half the rice grown in West Africa and from 1995 to 1999
average production was 3,189,833 Mt with an average import of 525,307
Mt, representing 16% of production but a 75% increase over that in 1975.
Thus in both countries a trend of escalating imports is evident placing
an ever-increasing burden on limited foreign exchange and on trade
balances. To ensure food security, these and other countries in West
Africa need to develop production capacity for a time when cheap rice
can no longer be imported. Amongst the available technologies to enhance
rice production and productivity, new rice varieties with improved
spatial and temporal yield are considered a more sustainable technology
for adoption by small farmers than agro-chemical options, as they are
easily integrated into existing cropping patterns and make little demand
on limited incomes for evaluation. However, the release of new varieties
in conventional rice breeding schemes is slow due to the breeding and
selection procedures required to identify superior homozygous lines and
the years of multisite testing demanded by official release regulations.
To surmount these constraints the West Africa Rice Development
Association (WARDA) established participatory rice varietal selection
trials (PVS) in collaboration with NARS scientists, extension agents,
NGOs and farmers in order to: (1) identify promising varieties for
further evaluation, and (2) classify desirable plant and grain
characteristics for continued integration into the varietal development
process. WARDA initiated this approach in Nigeria in 1998 and
subsequently developed close collaboration with the Malian national
agricultural research service to conduct PVS activities in 1999. In
2001, a three-year program to scale up PVS activities in Nigeria and
Mali was initiated with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.
In the first year of PVS, a diverse set of up to 60 rice
varieties is sown in a centralized village plot, varieties range from a
local O. sativa and O. glaberrima to improved O. sativa
and recently developed interspecific (O. sativa x O.
glaberrima) hybrids. Men and women farmers evaluate the varieties at
maximum tillering, grain filling, and post harvest at which stages the varieties
selected and selection criteria are recorded for each farmer. In the
second year, each farmer receives free seed of up to 6 of their selected
varieties whilst in the third year farmers are asked to pay for seed of
varieties selected to derive an estimate of demand. In both years
farmers’ evaluations and selections are recorded.
In Nigeria
and Mali, first, second and third year PVS activities were conducted
during 2001 and the PVS approach has provided primary information to
feed back into the varietal development program. Secondly, it also
provides direct information into the technology transfer process by
highlighting promising varieties that address the needs of farmers. The PVS
also enhances the decision-making process in rice varietal release in
Nigeria. The trials also help to collect the multi-location agronomic
data required by the National Crop Variety Release Committee.
In these two countries, PVS has proven instrumental in the rapid
adoption of promising varieties. Several
NERICAs and other promising varieties selected from the PVS trials
excelled in meeting farmer requirements in terms of their vegetative
vigour and ability to suppress weeds, early maturing, stature and
height, and of grain yield and quality. The evaluation of new
varieties created some enthusiasm among farmers, extension agents and
NGO personnel. Participating farmers declared their readiness to buy
seeds so that they could plant large areas next year.
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