The necessity of technological or innovative pre-extension demonstration and evaluation in determining the momentum of scaling up and commercialization via large-scale demonstrations utilising a clustering technique is critical. It would be simple to methodically organise functions and stakeholders for further scaling up arrangements of selected technologies or innovations after we had decided and had final favoured types or technologies. Farmers' training centre (FTC) was identified as a research experiment or demonstration site where various technologies and innovations could be demonstrated and evaluated through a participatory approach involving farmers, development agents, agricultural experts, researchers, and other key stakeholders. In the South Gondar Zone of North Western Ethiopia, a participatory demonstration and evaluation of improved finger millet technologies was conducted to demonstrate and evaluate improved finger millet technologies to farmers and extension workers, as well as create demand for the technology for wider scaling up. In this presentation, a freshly released variety was used to compare its performance and preferences to older types. It was carried out in two districts that differed in terms of agro-ecological and farming production systems to some extent. At twelve FTC locations and/or sites, four varieties, including a local check, were exhibited and evaluated based on varietal attributes, farmer preferences, and feedback. Farmers' variety or local check was used as a local check for comparison. Farmers' variety or local check is a variety grown by farmers and has been cultivated for a long time. A quadrant approach of yield estimation was utilised to estimate the average and relative yield of each cultivar. When it comes to yield estimation, the tesema variety, even the local variation, surpassed the others. There were no statistically significant differences in mean yield between the two districts for the displayed varieties. The average yield of the tesema variety, on the other hand, deviated significantly from the national average yield of the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (CSA). All of the enhanced and displayed types outperformed the native variety in terms of yield. There were also yield differences amongst the modified varieties themselves. Grain colour, size, cooking quality, animal feed (palatability), biomass, marketability, and disease resistance were regarded as the most important variables in variety selection for farmers and other key stakeholders. Based on this research and the preferences of types, more large-scale demonstrations using the cluster farming approach should be conducted at each of the demonstration sites. Variety release and development by respective breeders must take those variety selection criteria and farmers' preferences into consideration in order to scale-up and spread the technology to other people.
Author(S) Details
Misganaw Anteneh Tegegne
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Ethiopia.
Endayen Melaku Baye
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Ethiopia.
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