Selecting promising varieties from farmers landraces an experience from Cameroon

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Selecting promising varieties from farmers
landraces an experience from Cameroon

• 1Fontem D. A., 1Berinyuy J.E. 2Schippers R.R.
• 1Faculty of Agric., University of Dschang.
  Dschang, Cameroon
• 2Horticultural Dev. Ser. LLP, 19 Travertine Rd,
  Chatham, U.K.

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Plan

• Introduction
• Potentials of indigenous vegetables
• Production marketing constraints
• Participatory selection of promising species
• Conclusion recommendations

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Introducton

• A great variety of local and introduced vegetable
  crops are grown in Cameroon
• Stevels (1990) presents more than 60
  underutilized species
• An important part of the household food security
  in resource-poor groups
• Adapted to local conditions
• Tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress

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Underutilized vegetables

• As nutritious as, or more than, exotic vegetables
• Have unexploited potentials
• Risk of extinction if not domesticated
• Research is concentrated on exotic or introduced
  species
• No standardized production practices exist

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Objectives

• To assess the potentials and constraints of
  indigenous vegetables in Cameroon
• To identify and select promising varieties from
  farmers landraces

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Survey of major IV species

• Conduct on-farm and market surveys
• Coastal lowland
• Southern Cameroon plateau
• Highland plateau

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Major species in Coastal lowland
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Major species in Southern Cameroon plateau
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Major species in the Highland plateau
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Species of national importance

• Solanum scabrum
• Amaranthus spp
• Vernonia spp
• Corchorus olitorius

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Production potentials.

• Intercropping with main crops
• Multiple harvests per cropping cycle
• Subsistence farming
• Low pest control requirements
• Source of employment

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Production potentials .

• Source of income
• Low input requirement for production
• Availability of family and cheap labor
• Postharvest arrangements
• Volume of production and trade of has increased

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Cheaper than exotics (Prices in CFA/kg)
1 Euro CFA 656
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Women are main actors
?² 130.45, df 17, P lt 0.001.
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Market scenes
Market street
Loading the van
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Market scenes
Mobile trader
Sitted traders
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Major production constraints

• Low yields 
• Lack of technical advice
• Lack of good quality seeds 
• Seasonality of production 
• High cost of external inputs
• Pests and diseases

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Pests of Solanum scabrum

• Aphids
• Late blight (Phytophthora infestans)

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Pests of Solanum macrocarpon

• Butterfly (Leucinodes orbonalis)
• Viral infections
• Aphids

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Pests of Vernonia

• Grasshopper
• Aphids
• Viral infections

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Major marketing constraints

• Limited selling capacity
• Post harvest losses
• Transportation problems 
• Unstable market 
• Lack of credit facilities
• Inaccessibility of market

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Germplasm collection

• Visit farms
• Farmers indicate the best plant in for each
  species
• Farmer and researcher jointly select whole fruits
  from the best plants in the fields

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Germplasm collection
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Germplasm screening

• Grow the accessions
• Invite farmer groups
• Identify characteristics
• Select promising varieties

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Desirable characteristics retained by farmers
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Cumulative yields for small leaf-type S. scabrum
Means followed by the same letter are not sign.
different according to DMRT (p 0.05)
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Cumulative yields for medium leaf-type S. scabrum
Means followed by the same letter are not sign.
different according to DMRT (p 0.05)
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Cumulative yields for large leaf-type S. scabrum
Means followed by the same letter are not sign.
different according to DMRT (p 0.05)
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CONCLUSION

• Important underutilized crops (IVs) are
  identified
• IVs offer an opportunity for poor people to earn
  a living, as producers and/or traders
• IVs are important subsistence crops for poor
  households
• Women play a leading role in production and
  marketing
• There are major constraints to production and
  marketing
• Adoption of any variety may require the
  acceptance of varietal characteristics

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PERSPECTIVE

• Establish community seed banks
• Agronomic package
• Assess pests/diseases
• Design postharvest methods
• Nutritional analyses
• Produce extension materials (brochures...)
• Train extension staff

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• DFID
• NRI
• IVs research team in Cameroon
• Workshop convenors (InWEnt, GFU, GTZ)