Abstract
Striga spp. severely affect maize yields in Tanzania causing yield losses varying from 20% to 100%. The use of Striga resistant varieties is an economical and environmentally friendly option that can be easily adopted by smallholder farmers. Uptake of newly developed varieties would be high if the breeding process is inclusive and consultative to farmer preferred traits and preferences. The aim of this study was to identify farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options, trait preference and perceptions among smallholder farmers in western Tanzania. Surveys were conducted in four districts, namely Igunga, Shinyanga rural, Urambo and Uyui during the 2017/2018 cropping season. Data were collected from 324 farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire (166), focus group discussions (158) and field observations. The major maize production constraints reported by farmers were; drought (97.2%), Striga infestation (93.1%), insect pests in field (90.1%) and in stores (72.7%). The main Striga control options described by farmers across the studied districts were: hoe weeding, uprooting, manure application and crop rotation in descending order. Only 59% of the farmers used the seed of improved maize varieties of either hybrids or open-pollinated varieties (OPV) which are Striga susceptible and the remaining used home saved seed. A breeding programme aiming at improving maize varieties for Striga resistance, including farmers’ preferred traits, should be designed and executed to control Striga infestations thus improving maize production, productivity and profitability in western Tanzania.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Farmers reported drought as a maize production constraint at 97.2%.
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“drought (97.2%)”
e1“farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options”
e2“smallholder farmers in western Tanzania”
Claim · model-written summary
Farmers reported Striga infestation as a maize production constraint at 93.1%.
StrigaOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Striga infestation (93.1%)”
e1“farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options”
e2“smallholder farmers in western Tanzania”
Claim · model-written summary
Farmers reported field insect pests as a maize production constraint at 90.1%.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“insect pests in field (90.1%)”
e1“farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options”
Claim · model-written summary
Farmers reported insect pests in stores as a maize production constraint at 72.7%.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“in stores (72.7%)”
e1“insect pests in field (90.1%) and in stores (72.7%)”
e2“farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options”
Claim · model-written summary
Reported Striga control options were hoe weeding, uprooting and manure application in descending order.
- Outcome
- hoe weeding, uprooting, manure applicatione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Striga control options described by farmers across the studied districts were: hoe weeding, uprooting, manure application and crop rotation in descending order”
e1“farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options”
Claim · model-written summary
Crop rotation was the fourth reported Striga control option.
- Outcome
- crop rotatione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Striga control options described by farmers across the studied districts were: hoe weeding, uprooting, manure application and crop rotation in descending order”
e1“farmers’ maize production constraints, current Striga control options”
Claim · model-written summary
Only 59% of farmers used improved maize variety seed, comprising hybrids or open pollinated varieties that were Striga susceptible.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Only 59% of the farmers used the seed of improved maize varieties of either hybrids or open-pollinated varieties (OPV) which are Striga susceptible”
Claim · model-written summary
The remaining farmers used home saved maize seed.
- Outcome
- used home saved seede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the remaining used home saved seed”
e1“improved maize varieties”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend breeding Striga resistant maize with farmer preferred traits to improve production, productivity and profitability.
- Outcome
- A breeding programme aiming at improving maize varieties for Striga resistance, including farmers’ preferred traitse0
- Setting
- western Tanzaniae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“A breeding programme aiming at improving maize varieties for Striga resistance, including farmers’ preferred traits, should be designed and executed to control Striga infestations thus improving maize production, productivity and profitability in western Tanzania.”