Farmers perceptions on improved bread wheat varieties and formal seed supply in Ethiopia

The paper presents smallholder farmers perceptions on attributes of bread wheat varietiesbased on primary data collected from 524 households in four major wheat growing areas ofEthiopia. The results indicated high value of attainment indices for improved varieties comparedto landraces, which shows how the demanded attributes are embodied more in improved ones.Grain yield and yellow and stem rust resistance are attributes that are desired most compared toothers. However, there is high variability in attainment indices among improved varieties for thedifferent attributes, which suggests the need to target varieties for the different environmentsincluding disease and drought tolerance. The results also showed inconsistency between thevalue of attainment indices of varieties and the amount of seed supplied by the formal sector,which resulted in mismatch between demand and supply leading to considerable carryover seed.The formal sector needs to consider diversifying its bread wheat varietal portfolio and increaseits capacity for seed supply to respond to emerging challenges and effectively address farmers’preferences.

Keywords:

Attainment indices , Farmers’ perception , Formal seed system , Varietal attributes , Wheat