Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

4936. Development and testing of Striga tolerant early and extra-earlymaize varieties.7. Introduction and testing of IR-maize for Striga management.Economics and ExtensionRecommendation from previous workshopThe following recommendation from the previous workshop was yetto be executed.1. Exchange of socio-economists among WECAMAN membercountries.Lessons learned1. Existence of viable women farmers’ groups, seed producer.groups has been established.2. Spatial distribution of farm plots and enterprise recombination areidentifi es as tools for the determination of extent of maize adoption.3. The main trade/marketing problems are inadequate/poorinfrastructure, insecurity and postharvest technologies.4. Preliminary perceptions indicate high demand for early extraearlyQPM maize varieties5. Factors infl uencing fertilizer adoption have been identifi ed.6. Factors infl uencing farmer effi ciency in improving hybrid maizeproduction have been identifi ed.7. Community-based maize seed production is being promotedas a profi table in technology generation could undermine theacceptability and hence adoption of technologies.Challenges1. Scaling up of viable women-farmer groups and seed producergroups.2. Operationalizing linkage between research, extension, inputsupplies, farmers and other stakeholders.3. Lack of empirical evidence of adoption (impact) of these varietiesin West and Central Africa.4. Ensuring the sustainability of community-based seed productionschemes.Recommendations1. More work to scale up viable women-farmer and seed producergroups.2. There should be a strong linkage between all stakeholders(researchers, extentionists, farmers, input agencies, policymakers, etc.) in the agricultural development system to facilitatesustainability. Suggested strategies are: participatory problem