Abstract:
Research was undertaken to determine livestock related factors that influence
smallholder farmers’ choice of maize cultivars in Hai and Moshi rural Districts. The
study employed On-farm mother-baby trial, informal and formal interviews. A total
of 150 farm households - both participants and non-participant in mother baby trials
were interviewed using structured questionnaire. 17 mother- baby trial participants
were purposively selected based on their willingness to participate, access to
irrigation water and ability to allocate land for the trial. The mother trial in each site
consisted of 12 different improved maize varieties: SITUKA1; KILIMA ST; PAN67;
SC627; SC 403; LONGE 6H; LISHE H1; LISHE H2; LISHEK1; SITUKA M1; PAN
6549 and DK8031. Non-participants were randomly selected from village list of
farm households. Data were collected in three stages: (i) Agronomic data recording
(ii) field farmers’ assessment and focus group discussions (iii) face to face structured
interview. Data analysis focused on agronomic performance, descriptive statistics,
multinomial logit and logit regression methods. Agronomic results indicated no
significant differences for grain yield, biomass yield, plant height, and ears per plant
for all the varieties in all locations. However, SC 627 revealed a slightly better
performance in terms of grain and biomass yields, suggesting high potential for both
food and livestock feed. The most important criteria among farmers in selecting
maize varieties were yield, drought tolerance, early maturity, pest resistance,
marketability, stover biomass and milling quality. Econometric analyses results
indicated that attributes for grain characteristics, education level, livestock number
owned, farm size and market related aspects are important variables in influencing
maize cultivars choice by farmers. The study concluded that PAN 67 and DK 8031iii
were likely to be chosen for household food while SC627 and LISHE H1 were likely
to be selected for marketing (for commercialized households) and livestock feed. The
most important attributes considered by farmers for selection of maize varieties were
drought tolerance, disease resistance, early maturity and milling quality. The study
recommends maize breeders incorporate attributes which are valued most by farmers
in the crop-livestock farming system.
