CONSTRAINTS TO ADOPTION OF IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY FOR BERSEEM CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM ALEXANDRINUM) CULTIVATION IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

SUMMARYBerseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is an important forage legume and is the primary winter forage crop in Pakistan. There are significant gaps in yield potential among varieties of berseem clover, as well as yields obtained at research stations and on-farm. To address this problem a survey of farmers was undertaken in the districts of Kasur and Okara, Punjab, Pakistan to determine the level of knowledge and understanding of berseem forage cultivation and seed production. The study comprised 44% smallholder (<3 ha), 26% medium (3–5 ha) and 30% large farmers (>5 ha) with average age of 42 years. Most farmers had little or no knowledge of the role of seed quality, inoculation with rhizobium, pollination, fertiliser use, irrigation management and the importance of forage nutritional value in improving livestock productivity. Most farmers (56%) had received no input from the government or private sector to improve forage production, relying instead on traditional knowledge. Knowledge of the importance of land preparation (95%), sowing rate (98%) and insect and pest management (75%) was higher than seed selection and fertilisation. Adoption of improved varieties (3%) and production technologies (14%) was low due to various constraints including ignorance, high cost of inputs, lack of availability of inputs in the market and a perceived high level of financial risk. Almost 100% of the respondents agreed that seed of improved varieties was a pre-requisite for higher forage and seed production as well as essential to start village-based forage seed enterprises.

Enhancing performance of berseem clover genotypes with better harvesting management through farmers’ participatory research at smallholder farms in Punjab

“…However, Egyptian genotypes produced greater seed yields 10 . Therefore, it is important that any improved forage varieties are able to not only produce high seed yields but also produce maximum forage of better quality in order to ensure adoption 2,42 .…”

“…Dr. Krebs is an Associate Professor (Ruminant Nutrition) with the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences (SAVS) at CSU. 2 Dr. Alison Southwell: Dr. Southwell was the co-supervisor of the PhD candidate "Dr. Tufail", and helped in manuscript fine tuning focusing on to the farmer participatory research in mixed farming systems. She also helped in the in-depth analysis of the comparative study presented in this manuscript.…”

“…She also helped in the in-depth analysis of the comparative study presented in this manuscript. 2,4 Mr John Piltz: Mr Piltz has involved in analysing the forage quality and editing of the manuscript. He also helped in the writing the methodology of forage nutrition discussed in this paper.…”

“…He also helped in the writing the methodology of forage nutrition discussed in this paper. 2,4 Dr. Mark Norton: Dr. Norton was involved in helping to develop figures presented in this paper. He helped in the final editing and checking the English grammar as native English scientist.…”

“…He also helped in fine tune this manuscript for journal publication. 2,3 Prof Peter Wynn: Professor Wynn was the project leader as well as co-supervisor of Dr. Tufail. He was responsible of all the administrative work and securing funding to undertake this research work.…”