PARTICIPATORY EVALUATION AND DEMONSTRATION OF FINGER MILLET (Eleusine coracana) TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS IN SOUTH GONDAR ZONE OF NORTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA | Asian Journal of Advances in Research
The South Gondar Zone of North Western Ethiopia hosted a participatory demonstration and evaluation of finger millet technologies. In addition, a newly launched variety was used in this demonstration to compare it to older varieties. It was carried out in particular in two districts that vary to some degree in terms of agro-ecological and farming systems. Four varieties were demonstrated and tested at twelve different locations and/or sites, with results based on varietal characteristics, farmer preferences, and user input. Farmers' variety or local variety, which is a variety grown by farmers and has been cultivated for a long time, was used as a reference standard. Six demonstrations took place at the Farmers Training Center (FTC), while others took place in farmers' fields. To estimate the average and relative yields of each variety, a quadrant method of yield estimation was used. When it came to yield estimation, the tesema variety outperformed the others, including the local variety. There were no statistically significant variations in mean yield between the demonstrated varieties in the two districts where demonstrations were held. However, the tesema variety's average yield differed statistically from the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency's national average yield (CSA). All of the demonstrated and improved varieties outperformed the local variety in terms of yield. There were also yield differences between the improved varieties themselves. The major determinants of variety selection for farmers and other key stakeholders were defined as grain colour, size, cooking quality, animal feed (palatability), biomass, marketability, and disease resistance. Based on this research and the preferences of varieties, further large-scale demonstrations should be performed at each of the demonstration sites. In order to scale up and out reach the technology, breeders must take certain variety selection requirements and farmers' expectations into account when releasing and developing new varieties. Please see the link :- https://mbimph.com/index.php/AJOAIR/article/view/2102














