Participatory rural appraisal and farmers’ perception about common bean varieties in temperate Kashmir

Abstract

Present investigation was undertaken during 2012 to 2014 in which 54 genotypes, both pole and bush type of Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were selected among a number of germplasm lines, land races and research material in order to generate information on the farmer’s’ perception about the Common bean varieties. Participatory rural appraisal was conducted in 32 villages of Kashmir through a broad questionnaires comprising of questions pertaining to the socio-economic conditions, farming systems, production constraints and varietal preferences of the common bean. The Participatory Rural Appraisal results revealed that common bean is generally grown as a rainfed crop (70 %) and is intercropped with maize/ potato/vegetable and merely as sole crop (20.66 %). Low yielding varieties and diseases (68.27 %) are considered as major challenges in the success of common bean crop, while as red colour with kidney shaped types (50 %) are highly being preferred as a pulse crop. The exercise of Participatory Rural Appraisal was carried out to generate basic information by assessing the need based constraints and devise the target breeding approach, by taking into consideration all constraints and also devise future breeding programme. A successful PRA provides the information needed to specify the characteristic in a new variety regarding its physical environment and the existing varietal diversity. For a breeding program, well applied Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques or customer profiling results in better client orientation and makes possible efficient goal setting or product design. Successful PRA provides everything that could be included in the full design specification of a new crop variety.

Farmers’ perceptions of navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production constraints, preferred traits and farming systems and their implications on bean breeding: a case study from South East Lowveld region of Zimbabwe

“…The high market value (USD 800 per tonne) of navy beans compared to other subsistence crops such as maize prompts farmers to reserve less for household consumption in search of income. These findings contradict with Katungi et al [5], Sheikh et al [17], Asfaw et al [24], Njoki [33], and Balcha and Tigabu [43] who reported a significant number of farmers who preferred common bean cultivars with a good taste and short cooking duration in their studies. Farmers did not value the importance of invisible traits such as nutritional value (Fe and Zn) and canning quality probably due to the unfamiliarity with the nutritional and health benefits of consuming bio fortified cultivars in these two districts.…”

“…Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) relies on participation of the community (local people) and considers the value of stakeholders' knowledge, skill, experience, their needs, preferences, abilities, and innovation [9]. Participatory rural appraisal has been extensively used to identify production constraints of many crops [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Ceccarelli et al [18] and Morris and Bellon [19] reported that the participation of farmers' in the initial breeding process provides insight into cultivar trait preferences, production and marketing constraints so that they can be addressed during the breeding process and hence enhance the adoption rate of newly developed cultivars.…”

Farmers’ perceptions of navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production constraints, preferred traits, farming systems and their implications on bean breeding: A case study from South East Lowveld region of Zimbabwe

“…Tolerance to storage weevils, grain taste and cooking traits were not considered as important traits for improvement because farmers grow navy beans for income generation, and also deliver most (90 %) of the produce to the contractor, prompting them not to value or put more weight on them. These ndings contradict with Katungi et al [5], Sheikh et al [17], Asfaw et al [24], Njoki [33], and Balcha and Tigabu [43] who reported a signi cant number of farmers who preferred common bean cultivars with a good taste and short cooking duration in their studies. Farmers did not value the importance of invisible traits such as nutritional value (Fe and Zn) and canning quality probably due to the unfamiliarity with the nutritional and health bene ts of consuming bio forti ed cultivars in these two districts.…”

Farmers’ Perceptions of Navy Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) Production Constraints, Preferred Traits, Farming Systems and Their Implications on Bean Breeding: A Case Study from South East Lowveld Region of Zimbabwe

“…Tolerance to storage weevils, grain taste and cooking traits were not considered as important traits for improvement because farmers grow navy beans for income generation, and also deliver most (90%) of the produce to the contractor, prompting them not to value or put more weight on them. These ndings contradict with Asfaw et al [6], Balcha and Tigabu [10], Katungi et al [37], Njoki [51], and Sheikh et al [56] who reported a signi cant number of farmers who preferred common bean cultivars with a good taste and short cooking duration in their studies. Farmers did not value the importance of invisible traits such as nutritional value (Fe and Zn) and canning quality probably due to the unfamiliarity with the nutritional and health bene ts of consuming bio forti ed cultivars in these two districts.…”

“…Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) relies on participation of the community (local people) and considers the value of stakeholders' knowledge, skill, experience, their needs, preferences, abilities, and innovation [18]. Participatory rural appraisal has been extensively used to identify production constraints of many crops [1,2,28,29,44,48,49,56]. Ceccarelli et al [17] and Morris and Bellon [45] reported that the participation of farmers' in the initial breeding process provides insight into cultivar trait preferences, production and marketing constraints, so that they can be addressed during the breeding process and hence enhance the adoption rate of newly developed cultivars.…”