Final version of Tropical Legumes II Project Report for Phase 1 - icrisat

The mother trials were implemented collectively by farmers selected by the village chief or farmers’
associations. Baby trials were conducted by 20 individual farmers in the same villages. Farmers grew
2-3 new varieties along with their local variety under traditional management practices. Other than
seed no other inputs were provided. Replication was across farmers, either in the same village or
across villages. The PVS trials were repeated in the 2009/10 season in the same villages with larger
plots. The varieties were sown in plots of 20 x 50 m or 0.1 ha in each of the six villages in Mali. For the
baby trials out of 120 farmers expected 108 were implemented. The number of farmers involved in the
trials is presented in Table 4-9. The interest of Plan Mali (an International NGO) to include groundnut
production by the women groups in their areas of intervention has facilitated the extension of mother
trials in five new villages in the Koulikoro region in 2010/11 cropping seasons. The trials were managed
by 25 women in each village. The plot sizes were 0.1 ha per variety.
Niger
The pilot sites are located in the Dosso region. Soils are mainly sandy accounting for two thirds of the
region, with clayey soils in less than 10% of the region. The main rainfed crops are millet, sorghum,
cowpea and groundnut. The experimental sites were Doula, Guida Gaba, KomaBeri, Tanda, Tounga
and Wassangou. The most popular variety grown throughout Niger is 55-437 .The Mother trials were
managed by a group of 36 farmers in each village. Satellite baby trials were also set up in the same
villages. Overall, 167 men and 25 women were involved.
Nigeria
The pilot sites are located in the states of Jigawa, Kano and Kastina that account for more than 50%
of the total groundnut production in Nigeria. These states span the Sudan-sahelian ecologies prone
to drought; where millet, sorghum, cotton, groundnut, cowpea and vegetables are major crops. The
rainfall in these states varies between 600 and 900 mm. Groundnut rosette is a major biotic constraint.
The most widely grown varieties are 55-437, RRB, and RMP 12. However, new varieties released in the
last decade are finding their way into the farmers’ fields. The pilot sites, names of farmers conducting
mother and baby trial are presented in Table 4-10.
Table 4-9: Number of farmers involved in the baby and mother trials in Mali
Location
Year
2008 2009 2010 Total
Marako 21 21 21 63
Diorila 21 21 21 63
Faladié 21 21 41 103
Diancounté Camara 21 21 17 59
Sadiola 21 101 85 207
Dialafra 21 21 21 63
Total 126 206 240 558
Progress of Phase 1
67