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Four Seasons of Learning and Engaging Smallholder Farmers - icrisat

Four Seasons of Learning and Engaging Smallholder Farmers - icrisat

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A 10-day intensive training workshop on groundnut breeding methods <strong>and</strong> techniques was held at<br />

ICRISAT-Mali from 26 January to 6 February 2009 for research assistants <strong>and</strong> scientists. A total <strong>of</strong> eight<br />

participants (two from IER, Mali, two from INRAN, Niger, three from IAR, Nigeria <strong>and</strong> one from ICRISAT)<br />

attended the workshop. The course covered a range <strong>of</strong> topics organized in 10 modules. Two technical<br />

guides in groundnut breeding <strong>and</strong> PVS were prepared <strong>and</strong> their s<strong>of</strong>t copies were made available to the<br />

participants. The project also contributed to the training <strong>of</strong> research technicians from IER, Mali, INRAN,<br />

Niger <strong>and</strong> ICRISAT-Mali in data capture <strong>and</strong> analysis using the GENSTAT statistical program from 9-20<br />

February 2009. A total <strong>of</strong> 33 participants attended the training.<br />

Degree training<br />

Two PhD students (from Niger <strong>and</strong> Nigeria) at the West Africa Center for Crop Improvement (WACCI),<br />

University <strong>of</strong> Ghana, were mentored to formulate <strong>and</strong> present their thesis research project proposals in<br />

groundnut breeding.<br />

Training farmers<br />

Before the implementation <strong>of</strong> the PVS trials, a 1- to 2-day training session was conducted for the<br />

participating farmers in the respective locations. Group meetings were also held during field monitoring<br />

by the project staff. More than 2,000 persons including farmers <strong>and</strong> extension agents have benefitted<br />

from the training by the end <strong>of</strong> 2009. In 2010, a total <strong>of</strong> 150 women from the farmer groups in five<br />

villages in Sanakoroba district <strong>of</strong> Mali participated in a pre-sowing 2-day training program in good<br />

practices <strong>of</strong> producing groundnut. In addition, 10 village (all men) agents <strong>and</strong> 2 staff (1woman <strong>and</strong><br />

one man) <strong>of</strong> PLAN-Mali also benefited from the training. ICRISAT-Mali provided the facility. IER-Mali<br />

facilitated training <strong>of</strong> 75 farmers in integrated crop management at the sites in the Kayes region where<br />

demonstration plots were established.<br />

Establishing an efficient improvement program for NARS<br />

At the beginning <strong>of</strong> the project no hybridization activity was conducted at any <strong>of</strong> the participating<br />

NARS. After the training <strong>of</strong> technicians in managing crossing blocks, <strong>and</strong> the rehabilitated facilities,<br />

hybridization has been initiated at INRAN <strong>and</strong> IAR<br />

Farmer-friendly literature<br />

ICRISAT prepared simplified brochures on varieties grown in Mali <strong>and</strong> crop management in French for<br />

eventual translation into Bambara.<br />

Lessons learned/concerns<br />

• The release <strong>of</strong> new breeding lines remains a very slow process. This is largely due to variety release<br />

committees not meeting or the NARS partners not being aggressive enough to promote new<br />

varieties through nationally coordinated trials <strong>and</strong> on-farm validation tests. However, through PVS<br />

the variety release process can be fast-tracked;<br />

• The major challenge facing women groundnut farmers is the limited access to good l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> farm<br />

equipment to reduce drudgery in the production <strong>and</strong> processing <strong>of</strong> groundnut;<br />

• The project involves many sites - some in isolated locations - making coordination <strong>and</strong> monitoring<br />

a challenge. Focusing on one key region per county will be the most effective in terms <strong>of</strong> resource<br />

use <strong>and</strong> sustainability. Successful interventions can be replicated in other regions.<br />

76<br />

<strong>Engaging</strong> <strong>Smallholder</strong> <strong>Farmers</strong> | Tropical Legumes II Project

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