Designing effective groundnut breeding strategies through farmers-breeder interactions in Northern Nigeria

Nigeria is the largest groundnut producing country in West and Central Africa and the crop is grown largely under small-holder system and rain-fed conditions. Demand for improved groundnut varieties has been increasing over the years making it imperative to develop varieties suitable to different agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. ICRSAT has been working with national partners to develop improved groundnut varieties. Results of the participatory varietal selection and paired-wise ranking exercises revealed that resistance to pests and diseases, early maturity, pod yield, oil yield, haulm yield, pod and kernel features, and drought tolerance are the important groundnut traits to the farmers indicating a perfect alignment of farmers preference with breeders concerns on the development of improved groundnut varieties in Northern Nigeria

Adoption and Impacts of Modern Groundnut Varieties in Nigeria

Household survey data of 2,732 households was used to assess the drivers of exposure, adoption and impacts of modern groundnut varieties released less than 20 years ago on household poverty and food security. Results showed that adoption is largely explained by knowledge of modern varieties known, age and education of household head, the total work force and household size. This is consistent with many other adoption studies. In addition, access to seed was significant while and access to markets was not. Results estimated the adoption of modern groundnut varieties by 22% of farmers accounting for 13% of the groundnut area planted. Using the treatment effect estimation framework, the potential adoption rate for groundnut is estimated to 78% leading to an adoption gap of 56%, implying that there are potential to increase adoption of modern groundnut varieties based on awareness or promotion. The propensity score matching and other econometric methods indicate that the effects of modern groundnut varieties on yield are estimated between 155.05 kg per ha and 202 kg/ha between adopters and matched non-adopters. The estimated impacts of adoption on the score of consumption and coping strategy index (proxy for food security) are significantly different between adopters and matched non-adopters. There are impacts on food security and no proven impacts on poverty. Investment on promotion and seed projects are essential to boost uptake of groundnut varieties in Nigeria and generate more impacts

A Farmer’s Guide to Profitable Groundnut Production in Nigeria

Nigeria used to be the highest groundnut exporting country in Africa, but a combination of drought, rosette and other diseases wiped out groundnut production in the 1970s. ICRISAT, IAR and partners have developed and released new improved high-yielding varieties with combined resistance to major biotic stresses. It is, however, necessary to disseminate these varieties with improved crop management packages on a large scale to increase and restore the profitability of groundnut cultivation in Nigeria. This handbook aims to be an effective guide to farmers on groundnut crop production and general management best practices for efficient groundnut production in Nigeria and its neighboring countries

Analysis of Adoption of Improved Groundnut Varieties in the Tropical Legume Project (TL III) States in Nigeria

Agricultural technologies and innovations play a great role in increasing productivity, alleviating and reducing poverty and contributing to economic development and this is made possible through adoption of improved technologies and innovations. This study centered on analysis of adoption of improved groundnut varieties in the Tropical Legume (TL III) States of Nigeria. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 1476 groundnut farmers in the project States and from whom primary data were collected using electronic data capturing instrument containing the questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Average Treatment Effect (ATE) framework. The results showed that the breeding and promotion of improved groundnut varieties in Nigeria under the Tropical Legume Project and with the synergy of USAID groundnut up-scaling Project in Nigeria resulted in very high level of awareness of improved varieties, more than average level of access to the improved variety seeds, moderate level of utilization of the improved varieties among the groundnut farmers and the adoption rate of improved varieties increased from 8% at based line to 57% at the end of the project. The study recommends extension of the project to facilitate further access to these varieties and for state governments to take ownership of the projects in terms of financial commitments to promotional efforts for mass adoption by farmers

Best Choices for Enhancing Groundnut Productivity in Nigeria

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), also known as Peanut, is an annual crop commonly grown by smallholder fanners. The name Groundnut can be confusing as the plant is not typically a nut. The plant itself grows above the ground while the nuts (pods) develop and mature underground. It originated from Central America, and its cultivation spread to the rest of the world as an oil-seed crop. In Nigeria, pyramid-like structures made of groundnut sacks were common features in several locations up to the 1970s. These locations included Kofar, Mazugal, Brigade, Bebeji, Malam Madori and Dawakin Kudu. The pyramid structures constituted tourist attractions in Northern Nigeria and symbol of the wealth of the country. These structures gradually disappeared when attention was shifted away from agriculture to crude oil after the 1970s. Recurrent rosette virus outbreaks of 1975,1983,1985 and 1988 also discouraged farmers from groundnut production..

Tropical legume project impact on groundnut improvement research outputs in Nigeria

Groundnut is an important component of the farming systems in the dry savannas of Nigeria. It is planted on 34% of cultivated area and contributes to 54% of household cash in the country. Groundnut production in Nigeria has suffered from major setbacks; fungal and bacteria diseases, aflatoxin contamination and weak seed system. However, considerable progress had been made by IAR, ICRISAT and several partners to overcome these setbacks through the development and deployment of improved groundnut varieties and associated crop management systems. Earlier released Rosette resistant varieties, RMP12 (SAMNUT10) and RMP91 (SAMNUT11), were late maturing varieties. With climate change resulting in shortened growing season, the need for early-maturing, disease- and drought-tolerant varieties became urgent. Collaborative efforts of several partners resulted in the official registration and release of medium duration: SAMNUT21 (UGA2), SAMNUT22 (M 572, 80I), and early-maturing varieties SAMNUT23 (ICGV-IS 96894) in 2001. With the arrival on the scene of the Tropical Legume Project (TL), along with the excellent research and development support, Samnut-24 and Samnut-25 and Samnut-26, were released. These varieties are part of the achievements from TL activities during 2012-13 and are our pride. These varieties are making a difference in the lives of farmers, improved the sustainability of the systems and also increased the cultivation of groundnut even in the dry season. TL project in Nigeria took the unique opportunity to partner with USAID-Groundnut up-scalling project to build capacity of farmers and awareness of improved production technologies and make seeds of improved varieties available

Germplasm Enhancement for Increasing Groundnut Productivity and Production in West and Central Africa

West ond Central Afnca (WCA) account for almosl 70% of groundnut production in Africa playing an important role to farmers' livelihood and signfically contributes to the export sector of the countries in the region.However, the productivity in the region is limited due to many factors includmg biotic and abiotic constraints..

Germplasm Enhancement for Increasing Groundnut Productivity and Production in West and Central Africa

West ond Central Afnca (WCA) account for almosl 70% of groundnut production in Africa playing an important role to farmers' livelihood and signfically contributes to the export sector of the countries in the region.However, the productivity in the region is limited due to many factors includmg biotic and abiotic constraints..

Early adoption of modern groundnut varieties in West Africa Working Paper Series No. 24 Socio Economic and Policy

This study investigates the early adoption of modern groundnut varieties in the pilot sites of the Groundnut Seed Project (GSP) in Mali, Niger and Nigeria following government and donors’ investment. Seventeen varieties were disseminated in the pilot sites of the three countries. Uptake has increased significantly during the last three years partially as a result of project intervention. The proportion of area planted with modern varieties has increased by 22% in Nigeria, 12% in Mali and 10% in Niger in the pilot sites since 2003. Farmers using modern varieties have derived significant yield gains of 24%, 43% and 31% over the local varieties in Mali, Niger and Nigeria respectively. The modern varieties had significantly lower per unit cost of production estimated to 9.8%, 11% and 11% in Mali, Niger and Nigeria respectively. The net income derived by adopters is 66% higher than non-adopters in Mali, 73% in Niger and 111% in Nigeria. Relative to household types, income gains are estimated to be less than 20% compared to poor households in Mali, while it is more than 50% in Nigeria. Results from the Logit models indicate that the major determinants of adoption in the three countries include the participation of farmers to on-farm trials, the build up of social capital through the empowerment of farmers’ associations and small-scale farmers at producing and marketing seed. Constraints to adoption remain the poor access and availability of seed of modern varieties, pest and disease pressure in at least two out of three countries. Tobit results indicate that intensification of modern varieties is dependent essentially on seed availability, social capital, exposure to the varieties through farmers’ participatory variety trials

Farmer preferences for groundnut traits and varieties in West Africa: Cases of Mali, Niger and Nigeria.Working Paper Series no. 27

Participatory varietal selection trials were implemented in Mali, Niger and Nigeria and were used to assess farmers’ preferences for plant and seed traits of selected groundnut varieties. Using a panel of farmers in every country, plant and seed traits were assessed and found to be statistically associated with the varieties tested. Ordered probit models were used to identify plant and seed traits liked by panelists. Color of the leaves, maturity (short cycle), number of pods, pod size, constriction, pod yield, pod filling and taste were the important attributes explaining farmers ranking for varieties in Mali. In Niger, the color of the leaves, the number of pods per plant, pod filling, pod beak, and pod yield were the most important traits sought by farmers. In Nigeria, plant vigor, plant maturity, plant type, number of pods per plant, pod size, haulm yield and pod yield were the preferred traits. These traits should be used to identify varieties (from large germplasm collections) most likely to be adopted by farmers. Varieties with traits sought by farmers should be promoted and used to build sustainable seed supply systems. Attributes such as color of leaves, pod reticulation and pod beak tend to be overlooked and should be included in future breeding programs Ndjeunga J, Ntare BR, Abdoulaye A, Ibro A, Zarafi MA, Cisse Y, Moutari A, Kodio O, Echekwu CA, Mohammed SG and Micko