ICARDA annual report 2004

ICARDA Annual Report 2004
14
‘HAR1685’) and four barley varieties
(‘Kulih,’ ‘Yeha,’ ‘Atsa,’ and
‘Kunto’). These were compared
with locally grown hanfetse. At
Serejeka and Adiguadad, the new
mixtures outyielded the local mixtures
by 20% or more. However, at
Tera’emni, the local hanfetse outyielded
the new mixtures (Fig. 5).
At all three locations, barley–wheat
mixtures yielded more than barley
and wheat varieties grown sepa-
Wheat-and-barley-mixture (hanfetse)
plots at Serejeka, Eritrea.
rately; ‘Yeha’–‘Pavon 78’ was
always the highest yielding new
mixture. However, when grown
individually, the most productive
varieties were ‘Pavon 78’ (wheat)
and ‘Atsa’ (barley).
At Serejeka, researchers also
assessed which mixtures and varieties
male and female farmers preferred.
Twenty-seven farmers (20
men and 7 women) participated by
assigning scores to each variety:
Fig. 5. Grain
yield of the
highest yielding
wheat and
barley mixtures
(hanfetse) tested
in three
locations,
expressed as a
percentage of
the yield of the
local mixtures.
high scores indicated a strong preference.
The preferences of men and
women were similar, as there was a
strong positive correlation between
their scores (r = 0.805). However,
the women’s scores were more
closely correlated with grain yield
than the men’s. Men and women
strongly preferred short plants,
early heading, and early maturity
in both the barley and the wheat
components of the hanfetse, and
long spikes in the barley component.
A number of the new hanfetse,
such as ‘Kulih’–‘HAR1685,’
‘Atsa’–‘HAR1685,’ and
‘Yeha’–‘Pavon 78,’ were preferred
by both the men and women.
Another, ‘Kulih’–‘Kenya,’ was chosen
as one of the best mixtures by
the men but not by the women.
The data collected on yields and
farmers’ preferences will be used
by the participatory breeding program
to develop improved barley,
wheat, and hanfetse, and increase
the water productivity and sustainability
of Eritrea’s agricultural production
systems.
Researchers from the National Agricultural Research Institute in Eritrea in a wheat trial
planted at Halhale research station.