English - McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program

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McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 06-741 On –farm activities: On farm activity included evaluation of 7 cowpea cultivars of which 5 were experimental lines for Alectra resistance (IT99K-494-6, IT99K-7-21-2-2-1, IT 97K 825-15, Bunda 1, IT98K503-1) one commercially released variety (IT 82E-16) and a farmer’s variety at each project site. The project sites included Lilongwe district in Ngwangwa Extension Planning Area (EPA), Kasungu district in Lisasi EPA, Zomba district in Mpokwa EPA and Balaka district in Rividivi EPA. Lilongwe district Ngwangwa Extension Planning Area (EPA) a. Mazila village: A farmer research group in Ngwangwa was composited of 30 members but due to shortage of cowpea seed only four farmers planted the 7 cultivars. The general performance of the cultivars was very poor which resulted in poor pod setting. The possible reasons are: the soil fertility looked very poor, also it appeared to have had high insect incidences. The Alectra infestation was very high especially on the released variety (IT 82E-16) and Bunda 1. Less infestation was observed on IT97K-825-15, IT99K-494-6 and IT99K-7-21-2-2-1. b. Mpondela: Here the group was able to visit field of one farmer. There was good performance of all the entries planted and there was no Alectra observed in all of the seven entries. Kasungu District Lisasi EPA Sikondeyani village: Five farmers planted the trial. The trial performance was very good compared to those of Ngwangwa EPA. This may be due to good soils and relatively good rain Although nearby fields planted with cowpea had very high Alectra infestation but the infestation levels in the trials was relatively low and late emergency for this reason the grain yield was not much affected. Farmers selected IT82E-16 and Bunda 1 as the best varieties in terms of yield and earliness. Zomba district Mpokwa EPA Khuvinda village: There was good performance of the cowpea lines with very low Alectra infestation. Out of the seven entries, two entries (IT82E-16 and Bunda 1) were selected by farmers to be the best due to their earliness and good pod setting. Although the released variety IT82E-16 is a short duration variety, farmers were not aware of such type of the variety. This emphasizes the need to carry out more demonstrations to create awareness to more farmers. Balaka district: Rivirivi EPA: This is the only area where farmers were not organized in a formal farmer research group. The demonstrations were very good and planted along the road side for everybody to see. Alectra infestation was very low. As in other villages, here farmers also selected the early maturing varieties as the best cultivars. Bunda College: Activities here included, seed multiplication of experimental cowpea lines which have shown Alectra resistance. These included TZA 263 (from Tanzania) and IT 81D-994. Seed increase also included IT98K-503-1, IT99K-7-21-2-2-1, IT99K-494-6, IT97K-825-15, Sudan 1 and IT82E-16. The performances of the materials were good and were at flowering stage. The materials for crossing were planted in screen house and were at vegetative stage. Some of them had supported Alectra emergence already, which were recommended to be removed out of the experiment because they had shown susceptibility to Alectra. Lessons learnt: 12 2009
McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 06-741 Although IT97K-825-15 had the least Alectra infestation at all on-farm sites it was the least preferred by the farmers. At all sites farmer’s variety was the latest, and it had not even flowered when all the other entries were maturing. It was noted that only early maturing varieties were most preferred, forgetting the advantage of late maturing varieties for having other traits such as prolonged availability of leaves as relish. This suggests that there is a need to evaluate the materials according to maturity groups. Cowpea and pigeon pea as the main source of vegetable protein in the project target sites; it was observed that early maturity of the cowpea bridge the hunger period of February/March, while waiting for the pigeon pea to mature late in the season. Wrap up: - Released varieties showed better yields than test lines - Early maturing varieties save as source of food in hunger periods - Seed system for cowpea is very poor - More cowpea seed should be sent to Balaka and Kasungu districts as there is high demand for seed of the improved varieties. - Farmers in Rivirivi recommended forming farmer research groups for better access by researchers and extension staff as compared to individual isolated farmers TANZANIA 27 th -30 th April, 2009 Introduction: The monitoring and evaluation tour for Tanzania was done in three regions (Iringa, Dodoma, and Morogoro) from 27 th to 30 th April, 2009. The tour involved visiting seed multiplication, on-farm, on-station, and crossing activities. The objective was to monitor progress in implementing agreed strategies and action plans for the project. This report gives information on sites/farmers/stations visited, varieties evaluated, team observations and way forward. The monitoring and evaluation team comprised the following: Ambonesigwe Mbwaga (Project Leader) ARI, Uyole Mbeya Tanzania Joseph Mligo (Breeder) ARI, Ilonga Kilosa Tanzania Vernon Kabambe (Striga specialist) Bunda College, Lilongwe, Malawi James Bokosi (Breeder) Bunda College, Lilongwe, Malawi Boukar Ousmane (Breeder,) IITA Nigeria On-farm visits: A number of farmers groups were visited in the two regions (Iringa, and Dodoma). In general farmers were required to plant five IITA lines and two locally released varieties (Fahari and Vuli-2). The two released varieties showed to be more adapted and performed consistently well across locations despite the prevalence of drought in many locations. The major problem is that they are both susceptible to Alectra. In a participatory variety trial conducted at Mpunguzi, Dodoma region, farmers selected IT 00K-126-3 as the best entry despite being susceptible to Alectra. Many of the farmers visited showed dedication to running the on-farm trials. On-station visits: The first on-station trial visited was at Ismani. The trial had 14 entries replicated four times. Each plot had five rows of four meter length. Although drought had an impact the performance of the entries was far better than the farmers’ fields. Alectra pressure was not as high as the previous year. This could have been due to the prolonged dry spell during the growing season. Vuli-2 and Fahari performed very well despite sustaining some Alectra plants. Except for the two check entries the rest had no Alectra emergence. The second trial was at Bihawana (Bihawana farmers training centre). The entries were similar to those planted at Ismani but four extra entries. Rainfall distribution was not good. The site received a mere 250 mm (normal 330 -488 mm) of rainfall between February (151.3mm) and March (98.8mm) and poorly distributed. This site had the heaviest infestation of Alectra and is good for 13 2009
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English - McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program

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