Descriptive and Vegetative Characterization of fifteen ecotypes of Snake Gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina L.) in Nigeria

The descriptive and vegetative characterization of fifteen ecotypes of Trichosanthes cucumerina L (snake gourd) in Nigeria was carried out. The field study was done in two locations Markurdi and Umudike to evaluate the descriptive and vegetative characters of fifteen ecotypes of T. cucumerina from Middle Belt of the country, the South-South, South Eastern part and South Western part of Nigeria. Randomized Completed Block Design was adopted for the experiment at the exploration farm of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and Federal University of Agriculture, Makurd at the same growing season. Descriptive and vegetative analysis was done using Minitab 16. The qualitative vegetative characteristic of snake gourd accessions vigour levels ranged from low, moderate and high. Leaf colour was from deep/pale/light green, stem colour was light, pale and deep green. The mean of the vegetative characters ranged from 2.7660-1575 ±0.48-99; cumulative variation percentage 7.65-64.75;. The germination percentage of all the accessions was significant (p<0.05). CRS – IKM (100+00), Osu – OSH – 2 (91.67±4.82).EKT – OYE was higher than Ben-MKDI (58.36±8.34). The plant height among the accessions was not significant, block was significant (P≤0.05). Leaf sizes (cm) of all the accessions were not significant (P>0.05), while main vine length (cm) at 5% probability was not significant and their treatment interaction was insignificant (P>0.05). The main vein length was highest in ABI-UKW with 636.0±164.0, followed by EKI-OYE 514.0±84.3 and least from RIV-ELE 275.7±26.4. The fruit colour at ninety days (90) of ten (10) accessions of snake guard was orange green or strip orange green and remaining accessions was milky green or light green. The fruit shape was long, thick and cylindrical. The seed colour was speckled russet

Women at the Center of Cowpea Value Chain Development in Nigeria

Ms. Hadja Salame Shaibu (Fig. 7.1) is a cowpea producer and processor in the Local Government Area of Dawakin Tofa. She grew up in a farming community where crop- livestock integration is a tradition. When she got married few decades ago, Salame continued farming and keeping livestock to support her new family, mainly in sorghum and cowpea production. Few years ago, Salame also started processing cowpea into local dishes (Moi-moi, Accra, Danwake, and many other products). She also cooked and sold a special dish made from a combination of pasta and cowpea which was well appreciated by the consumers and made her successful

Sowing Legume Seeds,Reaping Cash

The smallholder farmers’ access to the outputs of the breeding programs’ achievements has been very weak and hence calls for effective, more coherent, and wellarticulated design of technology and seed delivery systems of food legume crops. The Tropical Legumes projects responded to this need. This book shares impact stories and testimonies from various value chain actors who were part of the Tropical Legumes (TL) projects over the past 12 years. It presents the experiences of a diversity of actors within the grain legume value chains, with a focus on groundnut and common beans in Tanzania and Uganda, groundnut and cowpea in Nigeria, and groundnut in Ghana. All actors involved shared their feeling of being part of decade-long development project families. National agricultural research institutes, knowledge brokering organizations, NGOs, public seed companies, private seed companies, agro-dealers, individual seed entrepreneurs, farm implement makers, farmer cooperatives, farmer groups, individual farmers, women farmers, middlemen, processors, traders, and consumers were all involved in this experience. This book provides learning opportunities for development workers, technical staff, and project managers. It will also inspire development workers and project managers to share their own experiences for others to learn from

Concluding Remarks: The Tropical Legumes Projects Empowered Communities in a Wide Variety of Assets

After 12 years of activity, the Tropical Legumes (TL) projects come to an end the year 2019. In addition to quantitative impact assessment, this publication brings to light various stakeholders’ own words about the kind of benefits they have made thanks to the TL projects. Research institutions, management and technical staff, extension services, NGOs, public and private seed companies, agro-dealers, farmer cooperatives, farmer groups, individual seed entrepreneurs, farmers, women farmers, processors, farm implement makers, middlemen, and traders have all shared their unique impact stories for being part of TL families. From poor knowledge of recently developed legume technologies, most communities in the project areas of the target countries have been widely exposed and have a very good knowledge and use of newly released varieties of groundnut, common bean, cowpea and chickpea. This allowed them to increase crop productivity and production, improve resilience to advert weather conditions, and enhance family welfare through various livelihood assets such as ownership of land, houses, transport means, market connections, social recognition, food security, children education, health care, etc. The huge smiles on different faces pictured in this publication is illustrative

Impact Stories and Testimonies from Diverse Actors in Groundnut Value Chain in Tanzania

Adamu, a groundnut farmer from Maugura village, Masasi, shared his success story for being involved in TL projects (Figs. 2.1 and 2.2). “I was taught how to grow the seeds, carry out diagnosis, how to store them, among other things. This year, there are some seeds that I have begun putting on the ground so that I can continue conducting research about them. Naliendele Institute gave me about 20 lines and I am working on all of them. In fact, they have not yet been named. I’ve just planted them in plots; from plot number one to plot number twenty.” Nyirenda is reaping big from his seed production business. “Last year, I got 90 bags of groundnut from 4 acres, and I sold 47 bags through Naliendele. I sold to other farmers the remaining 43 bags” he said. One bag equals to 42 kg. Nyirenda does not regret his decision to venture into groundnut seed production. “First, I have six children; two are in secondary school and two are in primary school. I pay their fees from the money I earn in the groundnut business. I have built a good house and bought more land to expand the planting area from the proceeds of the groundnut business as well. Generally, I would say, for me this a self-sufficient business.” Nyirenda, however, appeals to the government to purchase planters on behalf of the farmers as this will reduce the cost of production and increase profits. He also thinks that if a factory is set up for groundnut value addition, farmers like him will not struggle any longer with lack of market

Breakthroughs in Groundnut Production Communities in Nigeria

Ms. Hadja Talatu Idrissa (Fig. 6.1), a community women leader, is the chairperson of the Bunkure women group that is active in groundnut production and oil processing. The group which counts 25 members joined the TL projects’ family 4 years ago. They started growing a small seed pack of 5 kg in their community farmland. “It was the harvest of this seed pack that we revolved and planted in a bigger farm plot in the following year,” reported. Hadja. On 1 ha plot, the Bunkure women harvested a total 25 bags of the improved variety SAMNUT 24 against 13 bags they got from 1 ha plot with the old variety. In addition, the group made more money out of the haulms of the improved variety SAMNUT 24. “We sold the haulms of the improved variety up to 30 000 Naira against 12 000 Naira of the local variety,” says Idrissa (1USD equals 360 Nigerian Naira during that period). “The improved variety, SAMNUT 24, has higher haulms yield and is much appreciated for animal feeding because of its taste and digestibility which is better,” she adds

A Brief Overview of Smallholder Farmers’ Access to Seed of Improved Legume Varieties

For decades, the vast majority of smallholder farmers in developing countries, mainly sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and to some extent South Asia (SA), heavily rely on non-improved and auto-saved variety seed, accounting for about 80% of their material used for planting. Though the seed use figures by farmers vary from one region to another, with West Africa showing the lowest rate of improved seed use (below 20%) and South Asia with much higher rate (up to 70%), the overall situation looks less encouraging. At the same time, substantial breakthroughs have been made by breeding programs, and many more are still in the pipeline. Some of the traits of recently developed varieties have targeted the consumers’ demands and farmers’ preferences

Empowered Communities Tell Their Own Stories from Common Bean Production in Uganda

Most smallholder farmers in Uganda often opt to farm the more popular crops which include coffee, plantain, cassava, sweet potatoes, and maize. Smallholder bean farming in Uganda is however overtaking the crops as farmers are seeing the potential that bean farming possesses. Women in the traditional Ugandan setting are considered as care givers and are tasked with ensuring food security. In Northern Uganda for instance, women are not entitled to inheriting land. When it comes to land sharing, women are only allowed to endorse the sharing. They are however given a portion where they can plant crops they can utilize in the household. The Tropical Legumes projects however strived to eradicate the stereotype that exists with the position of women in production for commercial purpose

Common Bean Value Chain Actors Share Their Feeling About TL Projects in Tanzania

Ms. Shida Nestory (Fig. 3.1), an experienced agricultural research officer and common been breeder at Selian, presented the projects’ achievements for common bean breeding program in different areas. For accessibility of the new germplasm, new materials can be accessed sufficiently through the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the local collections (landraces), and other national stations (Uyole, Maruku). “Thanks to TL projects we are now able to advance six generations of bean varieties each year. The new breeds that we are developing have traits like better resistance to diseases, a higher nutritional value (iron), early maturity, and ability to survive drought periods. We have 8 old varieties of beans that are aged more than 10 years since the time they were registered; we also have 7 new registered varieties which gained registration in 2018, also underway is an additional 8 lines that are under multi-location trials. Through TL III, we have been able to release a total of 15 varieties up to date. Of the 15 varieties, five are climbing bean types. The 15 varieties have reached farmers across the Tanzanian farming regions. Currently, we can produce about 7 tons of breeder seeds on an annual basis. TL Project can be said to have played a dominant role in our breeding process, 60% of the resources that we own and use have come from the TL Program. The new varieties are very superior in that they have higher yields; they mature much faster and have a higher nutritional value in comparison with the old ones,” Shida ended

Better-off Women Boosting Groundnut Business in Ghana

Groundnut was one of the biggest breeding programs in Ghana in the mid-nineties, but the production declined because of many factors including the rosette disease and the fact that there was no dedicated breeder of groundnut for over 10 years. According to Dr. Roger Kanton, Deputy Director of CSIR-SARI (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Savanna Agricultural Research Institute), it was then, in 2015, with the support of the Tropical Legumes Projects that the groundnut breeding program was reinitiated. “Only a few local germplasms were available,” adds Dr. Richard Oteng-Frimpong, a young groundnut breeder, who came along with the support of the Tropical Legumes projects to start again the breeding program in 2015. Groundnut production and processing in Nyankpala, Northern Ghana, is now seen as a business. Umar Jibril, a fabricator of groundnut shellers, narrates, “In 2006, we could barely fabricate one or two groundnut shellers in the year. Now we fabricate up to 4 groundnut shellers per month; the demand is very high to a point that clients must place an order well in advance. Our clients used to be the villagers but nowadays our clientele is made of small and medium enterprises.